Artist

(b. 1710, Corleone, d. 1782, Roma)

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Details

Italian engraver and painter. After completing a classical education, he trained as a printmaker in Palermo, possibly at the Collegio Carolino, which was founded by the Jesuit Order in 1728 and at which the etcher Francesco Ciché (active before 1707-1742) was a teacher. Vasi was already an accomplished engraver when, in 1736, he contributed to the illustration of La reggia in trionfo by Pietro La Placa, which described the festivities held in Palermo to mark the coronation of Charles VII of Naples (the future Charles III of Spain). That same year Vasi moved to Rome, where, as a Neapolitan subject, he was immediately afforded the protection of the ambassador, Cardinal Troiano Aquaviva d'Aragona (1694-1747). In Rome he met other artists who worked for the same patron: Sebastiano Conca, Luigi Vanvitelli and Ferdinando Fuga. It is against this background that Vasi's work in Rome, when he was in residence at the Palazzo Farnese, should be considered: his monopoly as the engraver of the Roman records of the monarch, the plates for the festivals of the 'Chinea' and the triumphal arches erected in front of the Palatine gardens on the occasion of temporal sovereignty over Rome. About 1741-43 Vasi conceived the idea of a collection of views of Rome and published his Vedute del Tevere, which preceded the great work of his life, the ten volumes of Delle magnificenze di Roma antica e moderna (1747-61). This extraordinary collection of more than 250 plates offers a lively and detailed panorama of contemporary Rome, classified by subject, including city gates, squares, churches, convents, palaces, bridges and villas. The gigantic Prospetto dell'alma città di Roma was dedicated in 1765 to Charles III, then King of Spain. In addition to engraving the 437 plates, Vasi wrote several accompanying texts, often of some length. He also produced a guidebook, the Itinerario istruttivo ... di Roma, which was first published in 1763 and repeatedly updated during his lifetime. After his death further editions were published by his son Mariano (1744-1820), who was also an engraver. Giuseppe Vasi's most important pupil was Piranesi, whom he taught the technique of single-cut engraving in the early 1740s. //

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Category	Artists
Artists by letter	V
Artist nationality	Italian