Descripção analytica da execução da estatua equestre, erigida em Lisboa a gloria do Senhor Rei Fidelissimo D. José I .... by CASTRO, Joaquim Machado de

Lisbon, Na Impressam Regia, 1810.. First Edition. 4° (22.8 x 17.7 cm.), contemporary tree sheep (some wear, but sound), smooth spine gilt, crimson leather lettering piece with short author-title lettered in gilt, marbled endleaves (part upper section of front free endleaf cut away, with a somewhat larger triangular piece torn away at upper outer corner). Clean and crisp, printed on high quality paper. Overall in very good condition. (8 ll.), xxxvi, 328 pp. [i.e., 326: pp. 312-26 misnumbered 314-28], (3 ll.), 25 engraved plates, of which 23 are numbered I through XXIII (2 folding). *** FIRST EDITION of this significant work by Portugal's greatest sculptor (1731-1822), a celebrated figure throughout Europe in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The Descripção is the artist's detailed comments on the style and execution of his finest work, the equestrian statue of D. José I, erected in 1775 as part of the rebuilding of central Lisbon after the disastrous earthquake of 1755. The stages of construction are illustrated with sections and cross-sections of the horse and rider, views of the statue from different angles, and details of armor and ornamentation. This bronze statue remains one of Lisbon's most important monuments, and dominates one of the major squares of Europe, the Praça do Comercio or "Black Horse Square," known as the "Terreiro do Paço" prior to the earthquake, due to the fact that the former royal palace stood there. Lisbon residents sometimes still refer to the square by that name.In the introduction, Machado de Castro comments on similar works of art in the rest of Europe. The supplement is a descriptive catalogue of 65 public statues in Europe, many of them since destroyed or moved from their original sites. The first two plates, which are allegorical, were executed in Madrid by the Spanish engraver Rafael Esteves, and are dated 1805. The remaining 23 plates, comprising diagrams, sketches of the monument, and allegorical compositions, were engraved in Lisbon by the noted Portuguese engraver José Lucius da Costa, a.k.a. Lucius. Dates of these plates range from 1793 to 1796.*** Innocêncio IV, 126. Pamplona, Dicionário de pintores e escultores portugueses (1988) IV, 17-21, with a photograph of the statue of D. José I. Soares, História da gravura artística em Portugal I, 251-2. Catálogo de exposição bibliografica, iconográfica e documental relative à estátua equëstre 342. Porbase locates a copy at the Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal and another at the Biblioteca Central da Marinha. Jisc locates copies at British Library and Victoria & Albert. NUC: DLC, MH, ICN, NN.