PhD student, specializing in printmaking, print history, print collections, book illustration and book history. Studying an intact 18th century print collection of 4,500 prints. Interested in understanding the role of prints in disseminating knowledge and influencing artistic tastes through the study of the Maltese print market. Curator at MUŻA - the National Art Museum, Heritage Malta Researching the National Collection of Old Master Drawings for a digital project funded by the Getty Foundation's The Paper Project initiative. Supervisors: Dr Elizabeth Savage and Prof. Jean Michel Massing
Malta Map Society Journal, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2021
This paper describes the copper plates of maps in the National Collection of Malta, held within M... more This paper describes the copper plates of maps in the National Collection of Malta, held within MUŻA - the National Community Art Museum, Valletta and the Inquisitor's Palace, Birgu, which form part of Heritage Malta, the national agency for museums, conservation practice and cultural heritage.
Proceedings of History Week 2009, The Malta Historical Society, 2011
This paper introduces Count Saverio Marchese (1757-1833) as an intellectual figure and art histor... more This paper introduces Count Saverio Marchese (1757-1833) as an intellectual figure and art historian. He is known mostly as a sophisticated art collector, whose collection was the foundation of the Mdina Cathedral Museum. This paper discusses his comments to the manuscript 'Uomini Illustri di Malta' with extensive additions, notes and references, showing that he was very up to date with contemporary research and publications in Europe.
Sir John Soane’s Museum, Newsletter No.26, Winter 2010/2011, London, 2011
Reference in the Sir John Soane Museum's Newsletter to the first documented evidence of Soane's v... more Reference in the Sir John Soane Museum's Newsletter to the first documented evidence of Soane's visit to Malta in 1779, particularly his date of departure and fellow travellers which i discovered at the National Archives
Treasures of Malta No.46 Christmas 2009 Vol XVI No.1, 2009
Paper from my undergraduate research focusing on the high quality of the building of the Carmelit... more Paper from my undergraduate research focusing on the high quality of the building of the Carmelite Church in Mdina and of the artistic works it contains
Abstract for a paper presented during a session entitled 'Exploring the Plurality of Artists’ Pra... more Abstract for a paper presented during a session entitled 'Exploring the Plurality of Artists’ Practices: Artists as dealers and agents' convened by Adrian Turpin and Marie Tavinor for the Association for Art History Conference 2021
Abstract for paper presented at the International Society for Eighteenth Century Studies - Enligh... more Abstract for paper presented at the International Society for Eighteenth Century Studies - Enlightenment Identities - 2019 Congress
Il mercato dei quadri a Roma nel diciottesimo secolo: la domanda, l'offerta e la circolazione del... more Il mercato dei quadri a Roma nel diciottesimo secolo: la domanda, l'offerta e la circolazione delle opera in un grande centro artistico europeo. By Paolo Coen. Florence: Leo S. Olschki Editore. 2010. 2 vols. 876 p. 32 col. plates. €80 (hb). ISBN 978-88-222-5895-9.
The Wallace Collection - History of Collecting Seminars, 2021
Print collecting has been considered a noble and erudite activity since the sixteenth century and... more Print collecting has been considered a noble and erudite activity since the sixteenth century and well into the nineteenth century. Collectors purchased prints from dealers and publishers present in all major cities and by trading with other collectors. Unless such suppliers were in the vicinity of the collector, it is difficult to establish where prints were acquired from. For a collector living in a location where no known print market is present, it would be next to impossible. This is the case of Count Saverio Marchese (1757-1833), a nobleman who built a collection of 4500 high quality prints from the southern-most tip of Europe, the island of Malta. Fortunately, the Count kept a detailed log of purchases in the ‘Primo Costo’ manuscript. It provides precious information on the cities and traders where he bought his prints from. Who formed part of Marchese’s widespread network of print sellers in European cities? Were there any local suppliers? Was he able to choose what to buy from dealers abroad or did he follow other collecting models? There is very little current research on the print market especially on collectors and dealers. Therefore, this manuscript is very important to scholarship as it identifies names of sellers in various cities like Paris, Munich, Rome, and Milan, and it reveals various collecting methods. This research contributes greatly to the history of collecting and to print and art history but also to social and commercial networks.
The 80-page manuscript ‘Primo Costo’, is an inventory in which Marchese recorded the purchase of paintings, books, drawings and prints. The names of dealers, auctioneers, and other suppliers reveal a small print market in Malta which was well connected to mainland Europe. In The Print Before Photography of 2016, the eminent print scholar Antony Griffiths called for urgent research on the history of print collecting after 1550. The ‘Primo Costo’ is a rare kind of document which gives invaluable insight into European print trading making it essential for studying collecting practices in the late eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries.
The prints within the collection of Saverio Marchese are very representative of popularly sought after prints during his lifetime, including works by Stefano della Bella, Jacques Callot, the Carraccis, Dürer, Rembrandt, Francesco Bartolozzi and many others. Moreover, the variety of prints is significant as Marchese did not confine himself to one typology or genre. From the manuscript, entries related to the prints are isolated and the research includes looking for patterns, such as what type of prints each seller provided and which cities they came from. This will create a map of the network available to Marchese with a classification of traders and sources.
The ‘Primo Costo’ reveals that Marchese bought prints following many strategies, from large batches of up to 200 prints purchased sight unseen from overseas to the pursuit of single high-quality items. Agents, including friends, artists and engravers abroad, sold and sent him prints. Commander La Tramblait brought five high-priced prints from Paris for Marchese in 1792. Marchese bought part of the print collection of Francesco Seratti (1730-1814) before it was auctioned in London. Prints left behind by Lucien Bonaparte (1775-1840) during his imprisonment in Malta were offered to Marchese for sale by the elusive dealer Giovanni Facchini. Marchese mentions a Tyrolese print dealer, Domenico del Negro, in Livorno. One of Marchese’s most significant sellers was the artist Filippo Benucci (1779-1848) who lived in Malta before moving to Munich in 1825 from where he sent him prints. The manuscript also refers to other Maltese collectors with whom Marchese traded.
This will be the first attempt at identifying key figures in the Maltese print market and its intimate connections within the European market. The current trend in scholarship is focused on, not just prints, but their contexts, collectors, uses, and the intellectual networks that created collections. This research is therefore important and transformative for many fields, especially the history of collecting. This is only possible due to the unprecedented amount of material available about this print collection in the ‘Primo Costo’.
Malta Map Society Journal, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2021
This paper describes the copper plates of maps in the National Collection of Malta, held within M... more This paper describes the copper plates of maps in the National Collection of Malta, held within MUŻA - the National Community Art Museum, Valletta and the Inquisitor's Palace, Birgu, which form part of Heritage Malta, the national agency for museums, conservation practice and cultural heritage.
Proceedings of History Week 2009, The Malta Historical Society, 2011
This paper introduces Count Saverio Marchese (1757-1833) as an intellectual figure and art histor... more This paper introduces Count Saverio Marchese (1757-1833) as an intellectual figure and art historian. He is known mostly as a sophisticated art collector, whose collection was the foundation of the Mdina Cathedral Museum. This paper discusses his comments to the manuscript 'Uomini Illustri di Malta' with extensive additions, notes and references, showing that he was very up to date with contemporary research and publications in Europe.
Sir John Soane’s Museum, Newsletter No.26, Winter 2010/2011, London, 2011
Reference in the Sir John Soane Museum's Newsletter to the first documented evidence of Soane's v... more Reference in the Sir John Soane Museum's Newsletter to the first documented evidence of Soane's visit to Malta in 1779, particularly his date of departure and fellow travellers which i discovered at the National Archives
Treasures of Malta No.46 Christmas 2009 Vol XVI No.1, 2009
Paper from my undergraduate research focusing on the high quality of the building of the Carmelit... more Paper from my undergraduate research focusing on the high quality of the building of the Carmelite Church in Mdina and of the artistic works it contains
Abstract for a paper presented during a session entitled 'Exploring the Plurality of Artists’ Pra... more Abstract for a paper presented during a session entitled 'Exploring the Plurality of Artists’ Practices: Artists as dealers and agents' convened by Adrian Turpin and Marie Tavinor for the Association for Art History Conference 2021
Abstract for paper presented at the International Society for Eighteenth Century Studies - Enligh... more Abstract for paper presented at the International Society for Eighteenth Century Studies - Enlightenment Identities - 2019 Congress
Il mercato dei quadri a Roma nel diciottesimo secolo: la domanda, l'offerta e la circolazione del... more Il mercato dei quadri a Roma nel diciottesimo secolo: la domanda, l'offerta e la circolazione delle opera in un grande centro artistico europeo. By Paolo Coen. Florence: Leo S. Olschki Editore. 2010. 2 vols. 876 p. 32 col. plates. €80 (hb). ISBN 978-88-222-5895-9.
The Wallace Collection - History of Collecting Seminars, 2021
Print collecting has been considered a noble and erudite activity since the sixteenth century and... more Print collecting has been considered a noble and erudite activity since the sixteenth century and well into the nineteenth century. Collectors purchased prints from dealers and publishers present in all major cities and by trading with other collectors. Unless such suppliers were in the vicinity of the collector, it is difficult to establish where prints were acquired from. For a collector living in a location where no known print market is present, it would be next to impossible. This is the case of Count Saverio Marchese (1757-1833), a nobleman who built a collection of 4500 high quality prints from the southern-most tip of Europe, the island of Malta. Fortunately, the Count kept a detailed log of purchases in the ‘Primo Costo’ manuscript. It provides precious information on the cities and traders where he bought his prints from. Who formed part of Marchese’s widespread network of print sellers in European cities? Were there any local suppliers? Was he able to choose what to buy from dealers abroad or did he follow other collecting models? There is very little current research on the print market especially on collectors and dealers. Therefore, this manuscript is very important to scholarship as it identifies names of sellers in various cities like Paris, Munich, Rome, and Milan, and it reveals various collecting methods. This research contributes greatly to the history of collecting and to print and art history but also to social and commercial networks.
The 80-page manuscript ‘Primo Costo’, is an inventory in which Marchese recorded the purchase of paintings, books, drawings and prints. The names of dealers, auctioneers, and other suppliers reveal a small print market in Malta which was well connected to mainland Europe. In The Print Before Photography of 2016, the eminent print scholar Antony Griffiths called for urgent research on the history of print collecting after 1550. The ‘Primo Costo’ is a rare kind of document which gives invaluable insight into European print trading making it essential for studying collecting practices in the late eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries.
The prints within the collection of Saverio Marchese are very representative of popularly sought after prints during his lifetime, including works by Stefano della Bella, Jacques Callot, the Carraccis, Dürer, Rembrandt, Francesco Bartolozzi and many others. Moreover, the variety of prints is significant as Marchese did not confine himself to one typology or genre. From the manuscript, entries related to the prints are isolated and the research includes looking for patterns, such as what type of prints each seller provided and which cities they came from. This will create a map of the network available to Marchese with a classification of traders and sources.
The ‘Primo Costo’ reveals that Marchese bought prints following many strategies, from large batches of up to 200 prints purchased sight unseen from overseas to the pursuit of single high-quality items. Agents, including friends, artists and engravers abroad, sold and sent him prints. Commander La Tramblait brought five high-priced prints from Paris for Marchese in 1792. Marchese bought part of the print collection of Francesco Seratti (1730-1814) before it was auctioned in London. Prints left behind by Lucien Bonaparte (1775-1840) during his imprisonment in Malta were offered to Marchese for sale by the elusive dealer Giovanni Facchini. Marchese mentions a Tyrolese print dealer, Domenico del Negro, in Livorno. One of Marchese’s most significant sellers was the artist Filippo Benucci (1779-1848) who lived in Malta before moving to Munich in 1825 from where he sent him prints. The manuscript also refers to other Maltese collectors with whom Marchese traded.
This will be the first attempt at identifying key figures in the Maltese print market and its intimate connections within the European market. The current trend in scholarship is focused on, not just prints, but their contexts, collectors, uses, and the intellectual networks that created collections. This research is therefore important and transformative for many fields, especially the history of collecting. This is only possible due to the unprecedented amount of material available about this print collection in the ‘Primo Costo’.
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The 80-page manuscript ‘Primo Costo’, is an inventory in which Marchese recorded the purchase of paintings, books, drawings and prints. The names of dealers, auctioneers, and other suppliers reveal a small print market in Malta which was well connected to mainland Europe. In The Print Before Photography of 2016, the eminent print scholar Antony Griffiths called for urgent research on the history of print collecting after 1550. The ‘Primo Costo’ is a rare kind of document which gives invaluable insight into European print trading making it essential for studying collecting practices in the late eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries.
The prints within the collection of Saverio Marchese are very representative of popularly sought after prints during his lifetime, including works by Stefano della Bella, Jacques Callot, the Carraccis, Dürer, Rembrandt, Francesco Bartolozzi and many others. Moreover, the variety of prints is significant as Marchese did not confine himself to one typology or genre. From the manuscript, entries related to the prints are isolated and the research includes looking for patterns, such as what type of prints each seller provided and which cities they came from. This will create a map of the network available to Marchese with a classification of traders and sources.
The ‘Primo Costo’ reveals that Marchese bought prints following many strategies, from large batches of up to 200 prints purchased sight unseen from overseas to the pursuit of single high-quality items. Agents, including friends, artists and engravers abroad, sold and sent him prints. Commander La Tramblait brought five high-priced prints from Paris for Marchese in 1792. Marchese bought part of the print collection of Francesco Seratti (1730-1814) before it was auctioned in London. Prints left behind by Lucien Bonaparte (1775-1840) during his imprisonment in Malta were offered to Marchese for sale by the elusive dealer Giovanni Facchini. Marchese mentions a Tyrolese print dealer, Domenico del Negro, in Livorno. One of Marchese’s most significant sellers was the artist Filippo Benucci (1779-1848) who lived in Malta before moving to Munich in 1825 from where he sent him prints. The manuscript also refers to other Maltese collectors with whom Marchese traded.
This will be the first attempt at identifying key figures in the Maltese print market and its intimate connections within the European market. The current trend in scholarship is focused on, not just prints, but their contexts, collectors, uses, and the intellectual networks that created collections. This research is therefore important and transformative for many fields, especially the history of collecting. This is only possible due to the unprecedented amount of material available about this print collection in the ‘Primo Costo’.
The 80-page manuscript ‘Primo Costo’, is an inventory in which Marchese recorded the purchase of paintings, books, drawings and prints. The names of dealers, auctioneers, and other suppliers reveal a small print market in Malta which was well connected to mainland Europe. In The Print Before Photography of 2016, the eminent print scholar Antony Griffiths called for urgent research on the history of print collecting after 1550. The ‘Primo Costo’ is a rare kind of document which gives invaluable insight into European print trading making it essential for studying collecting practices in the late eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries.
The prints within the collection of Saverio Marchese are very representative of popularly sought after prints during his lifetime, including works by Stefano della Bella, Jacques Callot, the Carraccis, Dürer, Rembrandt, Francesco Bartolozzi and many others. Moreover, the variety of prints is significant as Marchese did not confine himself to one typology or genre. From the manuscript, entries related to the prints are isolated and the research includes looking for patterns, such as what type of prints each seller provided and which cities they came from. This will create a map of the network available to Marchese with a classification of traders and sources.
The ‘Primo Costo’ reveals that Marchese bought prints following many strategies, from large batches of up to 200 prints purchased sight unseen from overseas to the pursuit of single high-quality items. Agents, including friends, artists and engravers abroad, sold and sent him prints. Commander La Tramblait brought five high-priced prints from Paris for Marchese in 1792. Marchese bought part of the print collection of Francesco Seratti (1730-1814) before it was auctioned in London. Prints left behind by Lucien Bonaparte (1775-1840) during his imprisonment in Malta were offered to Marchese for sale by the elusive dealer Giovanni Facchini. Marchese mentions a Tyrolese print dealer, Domenico del Negro, in Livorno. One of Marchese’s most significant sellers was the artist Filippo Benucci (1779-1848) who lived in Malta before moving to Munich in 1825 from where he sent him prints. The manuscript also refers to other Maltese collectors with whom Marchese traded.
This will be the first attempt at identifying key figures in the Maltese print market and its intimate connections within the European market. The current trend in scholarship is focused on, not just prints, but their contexts, collectors, uses, and the intellectual networks that created collections. This research is therefore important and transformative for many fields, especially the history of collecting. This is only possible due to the unprecedented amount of material available about this print collection in the ‘Primo Costo’.