Important view of Cesena in Emilia Romagna engraved Isac Lacroix from a painting by German painter Jacob Philipp Hackert.
In the foreground, on the left, stands a majestic tree that serves as a scenic backdrop and introduces the viewer to the landscape. At its foot, a few figures accompanied by animals give the scene a bucolic character and emphasize the link between the countryside and daily life at the time. Over the Savio River, which flows in the center of the representation, stands a multi-arched bridge connecting the surrounding countryside with the city.
On the far right side is the outline of Cesena, with buildings and towers emerging on the ridge of a gentle relief. The bird’s-eye perspective allows the Rocca Malatestiana and other highlights of the city’s urban planning to be captured, offering a harmonious view between nature and architecture.
The fine view is dedicated to Pope Pius VI (born Giovanni Angelo Braschi, a native of Cesena). At lower left, “it is sold by Giorgio Hackert in Piazza di Spagna.”
Jacob Philipp Hackert (1737-1807)
Born in Prenzlau, Brandenburg, Jacob Philipp Hackert was one of the most celebrated German landscape painters of the 18th century. A child of art, he received his early instruction from his father and completed his training in Berlin, where he refined his technique in drawing and painting. He undertook several journeys, traveling to Sweden, France and, above all, Italy, where he arrived in 1768 and established his reputation. In Rome he became connected to international art circles and met Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who admired his talent and wrote a biography of him (“Einer Biographie”). Hackert became court painter to the King of Naples Ferdinand IV, executing numerous landscapes celebrating the Kingdom of Naples and Campania. With the fall of the Kingdom, he moved to Florence, where he died in 1807. His style is characterized by great attention to detail and a keen sensitivity in depicting light and natural atmospheres.
George (Georg) Hackert (1755-1805)
Younger brother of Jacob Philipp, Giorgio Hackert-often also referred to as Georg-was an engraver and art dealer. Also born in Prenzlau, he followed his brother in his travels and lived for a long time in Italy, where he was active as a publisher and print dealer. The inscription “si vende da Giorgio Hackert in Piazza di Spagna” on the engraving testifies to his presence in Rome, in one of the main artistic and publishing centers of the period. The Piazza di Spagna was indeed a nerve center for the community of artists, antiquarians and merchants, frequented by Grand Tour travelers and European dignitaries in search of works of art and souvenirs to take back to their countries.
Isac Lacroix was an engraver active in the second half of the 18th century, probably of French or Swiss descent, who collaborated with various artists and printers in Italy. Lacroix’s skill in etching emerges clearly in this work: the fineness of mark and attention to detail-from the rendering of tree foliage to the architecture in the background-reveal his technical expertise and sensitivity in translating the atmosphere of Hackert’s original painting onto copper. Although little biographical information is known about Lacroix, his output testifies to the vibrancy of the Roman chalcographic workshops of the 18th century, where foreign and Italian engravers collaborated with the leading painters of the time to spread the views and wonders of the Italian territory throughout Europe.
