INSPIRED BY THE TABLES DE BELLO GALLICO COMMENTS OF JULIUS CAESAR

The exposition is an opportunity to view thirty-nine prints from copper etchings by Architect Andrea Palladio which were produced in 1575 by the printing firm of Pietro De’Franceschi & Nipoti of

“I Commentari de C. Giulio Cesare con le figure in rame de gli alloggiamenti, de’ fatti d’arme, delle circonvallazioni delle città, e di molte altre cose notabili descritte in essi, fatte da Andrea Palladio per facilitare a chi legge, la cognition dell’historia”. Dédicace au Gouverneur Général de l’Église Giacomo Boncompagni.

In the Corpus Caesarianum, comprising the Commentarii de Bello Gallico and Comentarii de Bello Civile (Commentaries on the Gallic War and Commentaries on the Civil War), the former divided into seven books, Caesar narrates the systematic subjugation of Gaul by the Romans starting from the expeditions against the Helvetii and Ariovistus (58 BC) and continuing until the capture of Alesia and the defeat of Vercingetorix (52 BC). Caesar, in response to opponents who accused him of abuse of power, describes the war as having been a historical necessity intended to prevent the Germans from coming dangerously close to the borders of Rome once they had crossed the Rhine river. An eighth book was added by Aulus Hirtius, one of his generals, which recounts the events connected with the beginning of the civil war from 51 to 50 BC.

Palladio acquired an interest in ancient history from the humanist, Giangiorgio Trissino, and aficionados of military art Valerio Chiericati and Filippo Pigafetta. The architect completed the etchings of the forty-two copper plates around 1573-4, which, upon publication, were received with enthusiasm by contemporary academics such as the historian Marzari, who praises the work in his Storia di Vicenza (History of Vicenza. Venice 1591), and by Francesco Algarotti.

The Commentarii  represent an important key to understanding the personality of the architect who, in the course of his career, also produced studies of Polybius. The study of the classical world through drawings in chiaroscuro of ancient sources proved useful in the creation of one of his most interesting works, I Quattro libri dell’architettura (The Four Books of Architecture), which, apart from analyzing classical buildings, contains an illustration of the bridge over the Rhine which Caesar had his troops build. This illustration is part of the collection on display.  In addition to works from etchings, recent academic studies (Il Cesare di Andrea Palladi. Vicenza 1980) provide greater depth to the exhibition, showing that his creations were inspired by drawings made by some of his contemporaries, such as Pirro Ligorio, Giuseppe Porta, Abraham Ortelius and Georg Braun.

The success of the Commentarii is related in the work of academic Giacomo Zanella, who wrote La Vita di Andrea Palladio (The Life of Andrea Palladio, Milan 1880), which was published on the three hundredth anniversary of the death of the "prince of architects" that the city of Vicenza wished to commemorate.

The Rinaldi – Tonello collection has been on exhibition in prestigious museums such as the Mimara Museum of Zagreb, Palazzo del Monte in Vicenza and at the Grenoble Municipal Library.

The exhibition is curated and organized by art historian Barbara Rossi.

Translation Greg Gashgarian