MARTINI, Pietro Antonio - b. 1738 Trecasali, d. 1797 Parma

Italian engraver. He worked in Parma, in Paris, where he collaborated with Jacques-Philippe Le Bas, and in London. He engraved plates of historical subject matter, vistas and genre scenes, although the folder bearing his name in the British Museum’s drawings and prints department barely contains a dozen work. The most noteworthy of these, owing to their size, ambition, and impact, are the engravings made of the Salons of the Louvre of 1785 and 1787, and on the Exhibition of the Royal Academy in London of 1787 and 1788. These four engravings are his most famous and considered his masterpieces.

Although his name has long since been forgotten, he must have enjoyed a certain reputation during his lifetime, as he appears in the 1789 edition of Basan’s dictionary of engravers, which tells us that he was also the author of works on the history of Romans, as well as landscapes and seascapes based on paintings by Vernet.

Exposition au Salon du Louvre en 1787

From 1725, the Salon was held in the Palace of the Louvre, when it became known as Salon or Salon de Paris. In 1737, the exhibitions became public and were held, at first, annually, and then biannually in odd number years. They would start on the feast day of St. Louis (25 August) and run for some weeks. Once made regular and public, the Salon’s status was never seriously in doubt.

The Salon exhibited paintings floor-to-ceiling and on every available inch of space. The jostling of artwork became the subject of many other paintings and engravings, including Pietro Antonio Martini’s works.