Tivoli in Italy, Cascades, Grand Tour View, Antique Engraving, circa 1820

About this sheet

This antique engraving of Tivoli in Italy shows the famous cascades tumbling beneath the hilltop buildings of the town, with an aqueduct in the view, an early nineteenth century London line engraving of one of the classic Grand Tour landscapes. The plate is lettered "Tivoli in Italy" and bears no publisher's imprint.

Tivoli, east of Rome in the hills of Lazio, was celebrated from antiquity for its waterfalls on the river Aniene, its villas and the circular temple above the gorge. By the eighteenth century it had become an essential stop for travellers and artists, and painters from Claude to Turner made it a byword for the picturesque. In this plate the water falls in several streams down the rocks while the town and the arches of the aqueduct crown the heights above, a composition designed to convey the romance of the Roman countryside.

Without an imprint the plate cannot be firmly assigned to a publisher. It is an early nineteenth century London engraving, circa 1815 to 1830, in the style of the Kelly plates in this group, and is probably from a popular illustrated geography or description of Italy issued in parts. No specific source is claimed. The print is uncoloured and engraved in line, with lively hatching in the falling water and the foliage.

This Tivoli engraving is well suited to collectors of Italian views, Grand Tour memories and landscapes of the Roman Campagna. It would look well in a gilt or walnut frame with a warm white mount, perhaps hung with other Italian plates from the same group.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning, faint staining in the lower margin and a small spot in the right margin; the image itself is clean.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.