Maxim Gauci (11 February 1774 – 3 November 1854), born Massimo Gauci, was a Maltese lithographer and painter who was active in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in the 19th century. He was an early exponent of lithography for botanical illustration.

Life

Family grave of Massimo Gauci in Highgate Cemetery

Gauci was born in

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

on 11 February 1774. He studied painting under Michele Busuttil, and was later sent to the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fir ...

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 ...

on the recommendation of Grand Master

Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc Fra' Emmanuel Marie des Neiges de Rohan-Polduc (18 April 1725, in La Mancha, Spain – 14 July 1797, in Valletta, Malta) was a member of the wealthy and influential Rohan family of France, and Prince and 70th Grand Master of the Order of St. Joh ...

. Gauci eventually moved to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, and married there in 1804. While he was there, he was known as Maxime Gauci and he worked in the studio of

Jean-Baptiste Isabey Jean-Baptiste Isabey (11 April 1767 – 18 April 1855) was a French Painting, painter born at Nancy, France, Nancy. He was a successful artist, both under the First French Empire, First Empire and to the diplomats of the Congress of Vienna. L ...

. He was father of William Gauci, another printer, and the landscape painter Paul Gauci. Gauci travelled to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

before settling in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1809. He never went back to Malta, but he was often visited by his relatives and other Maltese people. Gauci remained active until his eyesight began to decline, and he died in London on 3 November 1854, at the age of 80. He was buried in the Gauci family grave on the western side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

Works

His firm completed works that included

Nathaniel Wallich Nathaniel Wolff Wallich FRS FRSE (28 January 1786 – 28 April 1854) was a surgeon and botanist of Danish origin who worked in India, initially in the Danish settlement near Calcutta and later for the Danish East India Company and the British ...

’s ''

Plantae Asiaticae Rariores ''Plantae Asiaticae Rariores'' is a horticultural work (alternative title ''Descriptions and figures of a select number of unpublished East Indian plants'') published in 1830–1832 by the Danish botanist Nathaniel Wallich. ''Plantae Asiaticae Ra ...

'' and

James Bateman James Bateman may refer to: *James Bateman (horticulturist) (1811–1897), British landowner and horticulturist *James Bateman (artist) (1893–1959), English painter of rural scenes *James Bateman (MP), MP for Carlisle (UK Parliament constituency), ...

’s ''Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala'' (1837–43), boasting the largest lithographic plates ever produced. Wilfrid Blunt had nothing but praise for Gauci, calling him ''“a master of the process, he ranged his tone from the palest of silvery greys to the richest velvet black; his outline is never mechanical or obtrusive.”''Grosvenor Prints
/ref> He also produced the lithography for

John Forbes Royle John Forbes Royle (10 May 1798 – 2 January 1858), British botanist and teacher of materia medica, was born in Kanpur (then Cawnpore) in 1798. He was in charge of the botanical garden at Saharanpur and played a role in the development of econom ...

, ''Illustrations of the botany and other branches of the natural history of the Himalayan Mountains, and of the flora of Cashmere''. Vol.II – Plates, London: Wm.H. Allen & Co., 1840. Gauci also painted

portrait miniature A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century eli ...

s in his early career and he later produced lithographed portraits. Many of his portraits are in the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

. Se
here

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gauci, Maxim 1774 births 1854 deaths 18th-century Maltese artists 19th-century British artists 19th-century lithographers 19th-century Maltese artists British lithographers Burials at Highgate Cemetery Maltese emigrants to the United Kingdom Maltese lithographers People from Valletta Portrait miniaturists