Giovanni Battista Falda (

Valduggia Valduggia is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Vercelli in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about north of Vercelli. Valduggia borders the following municipalities: Boca, Borgosesia, Cellio con ...

7 December 1643 – 22 August 1678

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, engraver and artist. He is known for his engravings of both contemporary and antique structures of

Biography

Map of Rome Giovanni Battista Falda 1676 Rijksmuseum

Falda was sent as a boy to Rome, to work in the studio of

Bernini Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, , ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 159828 November 1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor of his ...

, and his draughtsmanship caught the eye of the

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

Giovanni Giacomo de Rossi Giovanni Giacomo de Rossi (1627 – 1691) was an Italian engraver and printer, active in Rome in the second half of the 17th century. His father, Giuseppe de Rossi (1570-1639), was the founder of the most important and active printing press ...

.''The Fountains of Rome: Selected Plates''
Giovanni Battista Falda, Giovanni Francesco Venturini; Dover Publications, (2014). He engraved for ''Le fontane di Roma'' (

Fountains in Rome This is a list of the notable fountains in Rome, Italy. Rome has fifty monumental fountains and hundreds of smaller fountains, over 2000 fountains in all, more than any other city in the world. History For more than two thousand years foun ...

) and for ''Palazzi di Roma'' (Palaces of Rome).Ville e giardini di Roma nelle incisioni di Giovanni Battista Falda
edited Rosario Assunto, Il Polifilo, 1980. The former books was expanded after Falda's death with engravings by Francesco Venturini. The latter was published in 1655 in collaboration with Pietro Ferrerio. He is sometimes known as 'Falda da Valduggia' because of his birthplace. His works became particularly popular with the first waves of

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

participants during the latter parts of the 17th century and Falda became a commercial success as a result. His works appealed to tourists keen to retain a detailed and accurate representation of those parts of Rome they had visited.Imago Urbis:
Giuseppe Vasi's Grand Tour of Rome.

References

External links

Envisioning Baroque Rome (Emory University)
* 1640s births 1678 deaths Italian engravers Italian printmakers Italian vedutisti People from Valduggia {{Italy-engraver-stub