Engravings of Sea Shells, Niccolò Gualtieri, Circa 1742

Niccolò Gualtieri.

Niccolò Gualtieri Pair of Engravings of Sea Shells.

1742.

Paper.

A fine pair of 18th century sea shell engravings. Natural history studies of a variety of seashells, arranged in rows against a white background, some standing on end and casting small shadows.

Plates 30 and 31 from Index testarum conchyliorum quae adservantur in museo Nicolai Gualtieri philosophi et medici collegiati Florentini regiae botanices Florentinae academiae socii in Pisano athenaeo medicinae professoris ameriti et methodice distributae exhibentur.

Giuseppe Menabuoni (1708-after 1745) (after).
Antonio Pazzi (1706-after 1768) (engraver).
from Index Testarum Conchyliorum (Index of Mollusk Shells).
G. Albizzini, Florence: 1742.

Reference: (http://www.georgeglazer.com/prints/nathist/marine/italiashells.html).

Natural history studies of a variety of seashells, arranged in rows against a white background, some standing on end and casting small shadows. They combine scientific observation and aesthetic appreciation of the lively interplay of the natural colors, textures, and shapes of the shells. Menabuoni and Pazzi creates 110 splendid plates reproducing specimens of Gualtieri's shell collection.

Niccolò Gualtieri was a medical doctor and professor at the University of Pisa, whose avocation was the study of mollusks. He assembled a major shell collection and devised a system of classification for this book, which was admired by later zoologists, such as Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. Part of his collection remains today at the Museum of Natural History and the Territory of Calci, operated under the auspices of the University of Pisa. Gualtieri also founded the first European botany society, the Botanical Society of Florence in 1716.

Giuseppe Menabuoni was an Italian painter, draftsman and engraver based in Florence. He studied with Tommaso Redi.

Antonio Pazzi was an Italian painter and printmaker as well as an abbot. Born in Florence, he studied with Cosomo Mogalli, and engraved the well-known series of portraits of painters in the Florence Gallery for A.F. Gori's Museum Florentinum (1731-62). He also engraved the natural history studies of seashells for Niccolò Gualtieri 's Index Testarum Conchyliorum. The Royal Gallery of Florence has his self-portrait in its collection.

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