A beautiful view of Messina etched in aquatint by F. Hegui from a drawing by Samuel Birmann and taken from the important work Voyage pittoresque en Sicile by Gigault de la Salle published in Paris in 1822. The engraving depicts a wide view of the city captured from an elevated vantage point with figures walking on a gently rising path in the foreground, bordered by typical Sicilian vegetation, while on the left there is a view of the port and the urban expanse.
The compositional cut leads the viewer’s eye towards the sea, where the silhouettes of moored boats and the coastline stretching out in the distance can be glimpsed. The outline of the hills and the warm tones of the aquatint create a luminous, almost suspended atmosphere in which Messina appears as a dynamic and at the same time picturesque centre, perfectly set between nature and the sea.
This work is part of the picturesque travels of the 19th century, when European artists and travellers, driven by the exotic and cultural fascination of southern Italy, produced a vast production of paintings, drawings and engravings dedicated to the most evocative places on the Peninsula. The aquatint, a technique much appreciated at the time, allowed delicate tonal transitions and soft nuances to be rendered, making the landscape particularly evocative and rich in detail.
Samuel Birmann (1793-1847) Originally from Basel, Samuel inherited a passion for drawing and landscape painting from his father Peter Birmann (1758-1844), distinguishing himself by his ability to capture the light and atmosphere of the places he visited. During his travels in Italy, and particularly in the South, Birmann produced numerous sketches and drawings that would later serve as models for engravings and prints. His production focuses mainly on panoramic views and mountain landscapes, in which luministic rendering and a sense of depth are central. His contribution to Gicault de la Salle’s work testifies to the collaboration between different artists and intellectuals, united by the desire to fix the natural and urban wonders of Sicily on paper.
Gigault de la Salle is best known for his Voyage pittoresque en Sicile, published in Paris in 1822. He was a French traveller and author active in the early 19th century, interested in documenting the artistic, archaeological and scenic beauty of the island. Like many intellectuals of the time, he devoted himself to the production of travel reports enriched with engravings and lithographs, with the aim of spreading knowledge in Europe of places considered at the time as fascinating as they were still little known. His volume is in the tradition of the ‘Voyages Pittoresques’, works that were very much in vogue in the Romantic period of the mid 19th century, in which text and images merged to offer an immersive and captivating experience for the cultured public of the time.
