DANTI, Vincenzo Il Primo Libro del Trattato delle Perfette Proporzioni di tutte le cose che imitare, e ritrarre si possano con l'arte del disegno... Florence 1567
4to., (4) ff., 62 pp., 1 blank. Bound in 19th century stiff vellum, red morocco title label on spine. Light scattered staining on t-p and some leaves. Overall good.
Rare first and only 16th century edition of this treatise on human proportion inspired by and based upon the teachings of Michelangelo (1475-1564) and written by one of his most ardent followers who was also an important artist of the period, "un vero uomo del Rinascimento" (Schlosser). Michelangelo himself had intended to write a treatise on proportion, not finding the one by Duerer sufficient for his purposes; and it is believed that Danti may even have had the master's notes to work from when composing the Trattato. According to Schlosser, Danti, who was working in Rome at the same time as Michelangelo, was one of the master's primary spiritual descendants, so much so that he calls the Trattato "uno dei piu interessanti documenti del culto del Buonarroti" (Schlosser). Danti had envisioned his work to include 15 books, but only the first book, dedicated to Cosimo de Medici, was ever published. In it, he sets out his program beginning with a preface which amounts to a profession of faith in Michelangelo. Had the entire work been completed, it would certainly have been among the most important printed documents in the history of Renaissance art, especially with respect to the transition from Mannerism to the Baroque. Even in its present state, it is of enormous importance for the light it sheds on the spiritual legacy of Michelangelo and especially for its specific treatment of the idea of proportion in art and architecture. The author Vincenzo Danti came from an illustrious and erudite family. His father Giulio was a noted sculptor and architect; and his brother Ignazio was the leading Italian mathematician of the second half of the sixteenth century. Vincenzo had a number of important commissions, including the large bronze statue of Julius III erected on the Place de Perouse; three bronze statues on the doors of the baptistery in Florence; and, perhaps most satisfying to him personally, the honor of executing a sculpture for the catafalque at Michelangelo's funeral which was later described by Vasari. Vincenzo was also the architect of Cosimo di Medici I and did many projects in and around Florence under his patronage. The Trattato delle Perfette Proporzioni is of the utmost importance not only for its intimate connection with Michelangelo but because its author was particularly well-suited by birth, education and position, to speak on behalf of an age in which questions of beauty and proportion were very much on working artists’ minds. NUC records a copy of the original at Harvard and RLIN at the Getty. We have also located a copy at the National Gallery.* Getty record; not in Adams; Schlosser, p. 386; Cicognara 317: “Libretto prezioso e meritatmente raro, e degno che sia ristampato; poiche, non hanno forse le Arti un'opera piu chiaramente, e meglio scritta di questa.”
$US14500
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