Giacomo Barri "francese" e il suo "Viaggio pittoresco d'Italia". Gli anni a Venezia di un peintre-graveur scrittore d'arte nel Seicento

Jacques de Pierre de Bar, better known as Giacomo Barri (c. 1636–c. 1690), was born in Lyon (France), but came to Venice when he was only four years old. There he later achieved fame as a painter and an etcher d’après, as well as a writer on art. In order to promote himself among the most ancient families of the Venetian patriciate, Barri etched paintings by Veronese; but, in line with the artistic taste of the younger aristocracy, he chose to etch works by Giovanni Coli and Filippo Gherardi, both of whom were pupils of Pietro da Cortona. In 1671, he published his Viaggio pittoresco d’Italia, the first pocket guide to paintings, on display throughout Italy, by the most important artists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The present book is divided into two parts. Part one is the first ever biography of Barri, reconstructing his private life, the catalogue of his art works and his relationship with Venetian patrons and painters. Barri was more than an artist, however. He also played a key role in the artistic society of Venice and was on the committee which founded the “Collegio dei Pittori” in 1682. This institution was largely a reaction against the impoverished state of the arts in general and advocated the intellectual role of figurative painters and their emancipation from the artisanal and mechanical world. Part two is a critical edition of Barri’s Viaggio pittoresco d’Italia and of its English translation by the British etcher William Lodge (The Painters Voyage of Italy, London 1679). Conceived as a handy book which could be carried around by a “modern” audience, the Viaggio was the first guide designed for art lovers travelling around Italy, at the beginning of the Grand Tour phenomenon. Although these two books, apart from a few random quotations, fell into oblivion for centuries, a brilliant intuition enabled Julius von Schlosser, in his Kunstliteratur of 1924, to identify them as the origin of what he referred to as the “letteratura dei Ciceroni”. Now, with this book, we have the first critical study of both the Italian original and English translation.

Jacques de Pierre de Bar alias Giacomo Barri (ca. 1636-ca. 1690), giunto a Venezia da Lione all’età di quattro anni, fu un esponente significativo della scena artistica lagunare del Seicento maturo. Pittore copista, incisore d’après e scrittore d’arte, pubblicò nel 1671 il Viaggio pittoresco d’Italia: la prima guida “tascabile” alla pittura dei grandi maestri italiani, che fu presto tradotta a Londra nel 1679, a cura dell’incisore William Lodge di Leeds. Il lavoro è articolato in due sezioni. La prima è strutturata come una monografia d’artista con la ricostruzione delle vicende biografiche di Barri, della rete di committenze e del catalogo delle opere. La seconda parte propone un’edizione critica e commentata dell’ormai rarissimo Viaggio pittoresco e della sua traduzione inglese The Painters Voyage. L’innovativa creazione editoriale di Barri, già segnalata nella poderosa Kunstliteratur di Julius von Schlosser come il primo vero e proprio episodio della “letteratura dei Ciceroni”, ma da allora rimasta inesplorata, divenne un utile strumento di viaggio per gli amatori e curiosi d’arte, così come, in traduzione, la prima guida tascabile per gli aristocratici europei invaghiti dell’Italia e della sua pittura, agli esordi del Grand Tour.