- Museum number
- 1948,1009.20
- Description
-
Napoleon, assisted by a Genius, is forecasting that in 1850 Liberty will have to battle against the Kings, and that Europe will either become entirely Cossack, or entirely Republican. 1848-49
Graphite
- Production date
- 1848-1849
- Dimensions
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Height: 280 millimetres
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Width: 410 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
- Introduction to the album (text from Isabella Lodi-Fè Chapman article cited below)
This album includes a collection of 106 very fine pencil drawings (1948,1009.20-125) of political caricatures made by the Friulian artist Antonio Masutti between 1848 and 1849, and dealing with Italian affairs during the First War of Independence, in particular with the events related to the foundation of the short lived Roman Republic in February 1849. The drawings satirise many of the political leaders of both Italian and European States of the time, in particular the figure of Pope Pius IX. At the beginning of his pontificate in 1846 the latter had supported the liberal movements, conceding an amnesty for political prisoners, a Constitution in March 1848 and even some freedom for the press. But faced with the reality of having to declare war on the Austrian Empire, Pio IX and his cardinals withdrew from their initial liberalism, holding that the Church should remain above the fray and promote peace. The Pontiff's change of heart resulted in political turmoil in Rome, culminating on 15 November 1848 with the assassination of his Prime Minister Pellegrino Rossi, after which the Pope escaped from the city and took refuge in Gaeta, under the protection of Ferdinand II, King of Naples.
The drawings in the album are all by Masutti [1] except for 1948,1009.83, which is a pen and ink copy of a print by Gillray. Apart from a few (1948,1009.43, 85 and 125), these have all been published in the satirical journal "Il Don Pirlone", printed in Rome from 1 September 1848 to 2 July 1849, reaching a total of 234 issues. On July 3d the French army lead by General Oudinot occupied Rome and marked the end of the Roman Republic and indeed of the journal.
The journal was published daily, except for holy days of obligation, and was found, edited and for the main part written by Michelangelo Pinto and Leopoldo Spini (cf. Pizzo 2005, p. 15). The title "Il Don Pirlone" was inspired by a comical character created in Siena in 1711 as a symbol of masked hypocrisy. When the very first issue was printed on 1 September 1848, the top half of the front page was filled by an image of a flying double-headed eagle, the symbol of Austria, holding a chain and a mask with an enraged serpent wrapped around its middle. [2] The following day this was replaced by a figure of Don Pirlone, at first wearing a broad-brimmed hat and furtively wrapping a large cape around his shoulders and then, from 22 March 1849 onwards, sporting a Republican hat and seated at a desk in front of a map of Italy.[3] During the months following its foundation, Pinto spent most of his time away from Rome on diplomatic missions and, according to Critelli (in Pizzo 2005, p. 15), the journal changed editors and publisher several times. It had enormous success in its revolutionary message, one accessible even to the less educated thanks mainly to the satirical lithographs that were readily comprehensible even to those that could not read their captions. The journal's strong visual appeal caught the attention of the American author and academic Charles Elliot Norton, who very much admired the lithographs: 'There is more power in the hasty illustrations of its daily issue, more truth, more genuine feeling, than in the contents of all the modern galleries and studios of Roman artists put together' (C. E. Norton, 'Travel and Study in Italy', Boston 1859, pp. 292-8). From the very start of its publication the Prime Minister Pellegrino Rossi had threatened to censor and close the journal down and it is probably for this reason that the individual articles and the lithographs do not bear any signatures. In fact the journal is written in first person and the voices of the editors are unified in Don Pirlone's own. As one can see on the issue of 10 November 1848, no. 58, Giovanni Gallucci Pichi, who then appeared as the "Responsabile" for the publication, went under trial and this resulted in a fine and the confiscation of a number of lithographs which had allegedly been printed without permission from the papal censor (see below and footnote 9). From December 20th another name, G. Borioni, had replaced Pichi's.
The lithographs issued in the first couple of months in 1848 are stylistically somewhat different from those that follow. According to a letter by Michelangelo Pinto "Antonio Masutti del Friuli (...) era appunto il disegnatore che (tranne alcuni numeri) fece tutti i disegni del D. Pirlone" [Antonio Masutti from Friuli ... was the draughtsman who (except for some issues) made all the drawings for the D. Pirlone]. It is therefore possible that Masutti took charge when the journal was already under way. According to the same letter Masutti's drawings were translated into lithographs by Parmiani. The latter was better known as an etcher (op. cit., pp. 36-7), and this is certainly reflected in the final prints where hatching, cross-hatching and strong contour lines characterize most of the images. [4] In his letter Pinto also mentions that every day he would give Masutti a theme for him to translate into drawing, and he adds that the artist would do this "mirabilmente" [admirably]. Pinto was so pleased with Masutti's work that he later summoned him to Turin to design all the illustrations for his three volumes of "Don Pirlone a Roma. Memorie di un Italiano dal 1 Settembre 1848 al 31 Dicembre 1850". Again he states he would give Masutti a written text and that the artist would then translate it into an image. Also Parmiani was called in as the printmaker, but Pinto was less pleased with him and ended up using other printmakers from Turin for that particular project (op. cit., p. 37). On this note, it is very likely that Parmiani wasn't the only lithographer for the journal in Rome, as the quality of the prints does vary from one to the other. In some cases the lithographs loose the fine details and expressions of the faces found in the drawings and tend to be much drier (a good example of this is 1948,1009.111 printed in issue no. 84), but the speed at which these images had to be produced must have had its price on their quality. That more than one hand was at work is confirmed by an appeal published on the issue of 25 May 1849 (1948,1009.79) and made by Don Pirlone in first person, who claims that his chief lithographer is not able to find enough "lithographic arms" to transfer him on paper and he therefore pleads for a couple more skilled men to help him. One can well imagine that the more printmakers there were, there more chances for error would arise in the hurried process of having to produce daily images. A witty description of the relationship between editors and the lithographer is given in the issue of 2 December 1848, where Don Pirlone harshly criticizes the printer for having turned the caption found on the drawing, which alas does not survive, into unintelligible Italian. As the vitriolic comment appears on the very same issue in which the mistake had been made, more precisely on the verso of the illustration, the editors clearly had time to see the printed image, but no time to correct it, before finalising the last editorial page. [5]
Pinto's statement, in the above mentioned letter, that he would give Masutti "every day" a theme for the vignettes, does not quite tally with his prolonged absences from Rome. It is possible that this was the case at the beginning of the journal's life, and that, when Pinto was in Turin during the first part of 1849, he either had means to continue instructing Masutti sending him regular batches of titles from Piedmont, or Masutti took his instructions from someone else. Whatever the case, the vignettes are not always relevant to the articles of the issues they appear on and, even though sometimes the journal offers some kind of description of the lithographs under the title "illustrazione del disegno", it seems that for the most part the images had their own agenda.
Single issues of "Il Don Pirlone" can still be found on the art market or all bound together in volumes held in public libraries [6]. The volume in Cambridge University Library includes a manuscript list with the title: "Illustrazione / al Giornale di Caricature Politiche / D. Pirlone" and describes all of the 234 lithographs included in the journal. This list has obviously helped in the interpretation of those drawings included in the BM album which were eventually used for "Il Don Pirlone". Most of them do have a caption, which, unless otherwise stated in their entries, corresponds to the caption on the relevant lithograph.
The drawings are all very finished and are in the same direction as the lithographs, but they do tend to be much more detailed than the final prints. The introductory text to the album (see below for transcription) does not discount that the drawings might be copies after the lithographs because they are in the same direction, but rightly judges that their fine quality would suggest they are the original designs. As the drawings exactly match the prints in the images' size they must represent the final design with the printer making tracings from them that were then transferred, in reverse, to the stone so that the print was in the same direction as the pencil studies. It should be noted that there are other drawings related to that publication held in the Museo del Risorgimento in Rome. They were the subject of an exhibition held there in 2005 (cf. Pizzo 2005 below). Unlike the BM drawings, they are in pen and wash and the overall effect is more immediate. The artist responsible for these drawings has yet to be identified, but the clear differences between them and those in the London album, not least in the figure style and the way of caricaturing the protagonists, demonstrate they are not the work of Masutti. It should be remembered that Pinto stated in his 1893 above mentioned letter that Masutti did not design all of the journal's lithographs, and the Roman drawings must therefore be by another unnamed artist. Some of the drawings in Rome, executed between September and December 1848, were used for the journal and, with a few exceptions, are in the same direction as the prints, just like Masutti's designs; however, unlike the British Museum drawings, they present significant variants compared to the final lithographs (e.g. op. cit., tavv. XVIII and XIX), so it is yet to determine what stage of the preparatory process they belonged to.
Another more significant element to point out in favour of the authenticity of the BM drawings is that five of them bear an 'Imprimatur', i.e. a permission to print from the papal censor, which would suggest they had been drawn before the printing stage (see nos. 1948,1009.76, 91, 93, 94 and 122). How the 'Imprimatur' was obtained is very wittily described by Don Pirlone in a number of the journal issues up to November 1848, and one gets this very vivid image of Don Pirlone (i.e. one of the editors) walking across Rome and carrying under his arms his batch of drawings to show to the papal censor, hoping for the best and feeling relieved once permission was given, as that meant he would not have to worry any longer about being arrested by the Carabinieri (cf. issues of 24 October and 6 November), always with a sarcastic tone, as in fact the law for censorship was ultimately unconstitutional.
The question of censorship and the relationship with the papal censor, Father Dominicus Buttaoni, starts to be addressed in issue no. 36 (14 Ocober 1848), and no. 41 (20 October) is entirely dedicated to the matter, particularly lamenting the fact that the papal censor should not comment upon the political matters illustrated in the vignettes, but should only preoccupy himself with the religious ones. Another interesting episode is mentioned in the issue of 25 October 1848, where the editor reports that the lithograph of the previous day had to be "unpublished". Apparently the papal censor, after having given the 'Imprimatur', denied the second stage of the 'Publicetur' (i.e. the permission for the actual print to be published) because, on the original drawing that had been shown to him, the word 'Roma' at the top was not included and the caption had been slightly changed. [7] This provides a further clue to the different stages the illustrations had to undergo, as it is obvious that the lithograph itself had to be shown to the censor to obtain the 'Publicetur'. It is therefore possible that while the main press was printing the approved lithographs, others were simultaneously producing proofs of other images to submit to the censor. On the issue of November 7th there is a general attack against preventive censorship ("censura preventiva") and it is pointed out that the four drawings printed on a single page in that issue had been previously censored when they had been shown as four individual drawings. Don Pirlone tells the reader that the censor hadn't even noticed when he presented the sheet in the new format, therefore implying that his approval entirely depended on his mood (p. 217 of the journal). On the issue of November 9th Don Pirlone accuses Buttaoni of not wearing his glasses and of being old: the latter was claiming that the lithograph published the evening before did not match with the original drawing as, according to him, the drawing did not bear any of the inscriptions. Don Pirlone defends himself saying this was not true and that both draughtsman and others bore witness. Buttaoni had sent the following communication: "9 Novembre 1848: Dai registri autentici consta che in cima al disegna [sic] originale non vi erano le parole 'Ospizio dei poveri'. Queste parole che determinano il significato ingiurioso del Municipio sono state aggiunte dopo. Altra volta è significato che ammesso un disegno non vi si può aggiungere niente senza un nuovo concerto. Dispiace pertanto di non poter dare il Publicetur. / F.D. Buttaoni / P.A. Magister." [8] On the issue of 11 November 1848 (no. 59) a new brief section is added at the end of the journal with the title "Illustrazione del disegno", in which an explanation of the lithograph is offered. This is said by Don Pirlone do be a request from the preventive censorship, but the descriptions remain elusive and sarcastic (see also under 1948,1009.90 for further comment).
All these quotations from the journal give an insight on the rather lengthy process required before a drawing could be published, and this partly explains why the images that appeared daily weren't necessarily relevant to the articles written. The five drawings in this album with Buttaoni's comments (see in particular 1948,1009.93 and 94) must have made the journey across Rome under the editor's arms to the censor's office. They have been published between November and December 1848, but they were all signed by November 15th (date of Prime Minister Pellegrino Rossi's assassination; indeed the very last one, 1948,1009.122, was signed on that very day). On the issue of November 21st there is a brief note that reads: "Il mio P. Maestro è scappato. Don Pirlone gli invia di tutto cuore il buon viaggio; e gli augura compagnia". [My P. Master has escaped. Don Pirlone wishes him a good journey from the bottom of his heart; and wishes him to have company]. Don Pirlone had referred to Buttaoni in previous issues as il "P. Maestro" and in particular on the issue of November 6th he refers to him as il "mio Maestro". The papal censor had obviously escaped from Rome even before the Pope did (November 24th) and, after this date, censorship does not seem to be too much of an issue. The other drawings, without a written "imprimatur", that were published before the exodus of the Papal Curia belonged possibly to a different stage of the publication process. The remaining ones have maybe been drawn in slightly more relaxed times in terms of censorship and this is possibly why we do not find any "imprimatur" notes after the end of November. On the other hand it is maybe significant and worth mentioning that no issue was produced the day after Rossi's assassination and that Don Pirlone remains quiet about that matter in the following days (see also under 1948,1009.100). It could simply be a case of respect towards the gravity of the event, which was being amply reported by the sister and non satirical journal "L'epoca". Or indeed a precautionary measure to avoid the possibility of being closed down.
Provenance:
Four of these drawings were used by G.M. Trevelyan to illustrate his 'Garibaldi and the defence of the Roman Republic' (see 1948,1009.50, 66, 96 and 108).
As noted by Trevelyan (cit., footnote to list of plates), these drawings belonged to Arthur Lionel Smith (1850-1924), a historian who died while in office as Master of Balliol College in Oxford (for a portrait see BM 1916,0124.6). They were donated to the British Museum in 1948 by his son, Arthur Lionel Forster Smith, an educationist at one time involved in the education policies of Iraq. Most drawings are accompanied by manuscript tentative explanations of what they illustrate, but it hasn't been established yet whom the handwriting belongs to [9]. In a brief introduction it is lamented that the drawings do not seem to be ordered in any manner, and this is reflected by the order in which they were registered when entering the BM. It is obvious that the author of the notes, although aware that the drawings were connected to the journal "Il Don Pirlone" - two of them have a written reference to it, nos. 1948,1009.59 and 1948,1009.125 - did not have the journal at hand, as he/she would have otherwise noticed that many of the drawings are numbered, and that each number corresponds to that of the relative journal issue. Unfortunately a lot of the numbers, written at the bottom right corner, have been cut off, therefore when the drawings entered the British Museum no one noticed that they could have been registered in chronological order, rather than the existing random one. Except for three, the drawings have all been published in the journal; the reader will find on each entry the date of the relative journal issue. Also see below a list of the registration numbers in what would be their chronological order.
The author of the notes often shows a clear disapproval of the position taken by the Republicans against all European monarchs, and he/she believes that the artist of these drawings belongs to an "advanced section of republicans". Reading these interpretations in comparison with the titles found in the Cambridge manuscript does often give an interesting display of two very different points of view. A clue as to when these notes in the BM album have been written is given by both the introductory one (see transcription below) and the one accompanying the last drawing (1948,1009.125), where the writer says that "Don Pirlone" was a journal still extant in Rome. We know that "Il Don Pirlone" stopped running on July 2nd 1849 with issue no. 234, so, assuming the notes were written whilst the drawings were in the hands of A.L. Smith, it cannot be referring to that one as Smith was born in 1850. But in 1870 there was an attempt to continue the publication of the journal, starting again from issue 235 (15 October) until issue 251 (22 November), though never reaching the same standard of the original. On November 16th 1870 starts the publication of "Don Pirlone Figlio", which changed its titles several times, until it was stopped in June 1872 for offences to the Pope. From July 1871 to January 1887 runs the more lenient "Don Pirloncino", which had little in common with Pinto's first publications. From the very first issues of "Il Don Pirlone" (n. 7, 9 September 1848), the editors had felt the possibility of being closed down because of the censorship and had declared that, should this happen, they would go on with their political satires just by changing the title of the journal (see F. Guida, 'Michelangelo Pinto, un letterato e patriota romano tra Italia e Russia', Rome, 1998, p. 26). So it is likely that the manuscript notes reference to the "extant" journal is to one of these later publications.
It is not known how these drawings came to be in England, but Pinto travelled all over Europe and he did spend time in London in the second half of the 1850s, so it is possible he took them with him (Pizzo 2005, p. 24 and n. 35). Worth considering is also a quotation from Trevelyan about the owner of these drawings (op. cit, p. 118, n. 3): "Mr A.L. Smith of Balliol tells me that his uncle, Arthur Strutt, a well known English artist in Rome, who fought for Garibaldi during the siege, used to relate the same thing as regards the suppers after the battle....." [10]. According to the ODNB the better known artist Jacob George Strutt was Smith's grandfather. Strutt had two children, Arthur John and Elisabeth Alice. The latter was Smith's mother and, after her husband's death, she left him at the age of six in 1857 at Christ's Hospital in London. After having sent her first born out to sea, she then moved abroad with her other children, first to Rome to stay with her brother Arthur and then to Chicago with her second husband. She saw her second born Arthur Lionel Smith only twice again in her life (see Baird Smith 1928, p. 15). Jacob George Strutt worked as an artist in Rome from 1831 (ODNB), and his son Arthur John also became an artist and actually remained and died in Rome (see above and footnote 2). It is possible that one of them might have known Masutti, or any of the artists involved with "Il Don Pirlone", and got hold of the drawings. Jacob Strutt returned to England in 1851 and could have taken the drawings back with him. He died when his grandson Arthur Lionel Smith was 17 years old and, although the boy was in the care of Christ's hospital, it may be that the two knew each other and that Strutt bequeathed him his belongings. Arthur John Strutt did have some correspondence with his nephew (see Baird Smith 1928, pp. 24ff.), so the latter could also have been the source of Masutti's drawings [11].
The manuscript introductory note in front of the album reads as follows:
"These admirable sketches, are evidently the work of an accomplished artist, though none / unfortunately bear a signature. Two however, bear the name "Don Pirlone", which is / the name of a comic paper now extant in Rome. The sketches bring in most of the / characters in the ....[blank space] political drama of which Italy was the scene from 1848 to 1851. A drama at times a tragedy of the deepest dye, at times a comedy which brought into / prominence actors of the highest merit. The changing scenes are admirably shown, / though unfortunately the artist seems to have dipped his pencil in gall, & punished / the deserving and undeserving alike. It seems to have belonged to the most advanced / section of republicans, & consequently all monarchs were alike obnoxious. It is im- / possible to say whether these sketches are copies of public prints or the originals. It would / seem more likely to be the latter, as it is not easy to understand anyone taking the / trouble to copy prints which were to be bought in the streets. Again, it is difficult to / understand how such obnoxious prints (to the powers that were) were allowed to be / published, as many of them relate to the events immediately preceding the French / occupation of Rome, when martial law was in force. / Altogether there is a sort of mystery about the drawings, which the complete absence / of titles or signatures tends to increase. / It is to be regretted that the sketches seem to be arranged in no manner of order chronological / or otherwise. / From these causes the work of explanation has been one of some difficulty, & doubtless some / mistakes have been made."
Footnotes:
[1]. For comparative works by the artist see for example "Nuovi Misteri di Roma Contemporanea...../ Illustrato con 30 disegni originali di A. Masutti", Torino 1856. Also, for a signed drawing recently appeared on the art market, see: "A festival in Venice", graphite, 267 x 307 mm, private collection, (with Mattia Jona, Milan 2011).
[2]. Issue no. 1 with the eagle is found in the copy of the journal held in Cambridge University Library (see below) and in the Museo del Risorgimento in Rome. For the latter, see Pizzo 2005, pls. XVI-XLVII.
[3]. On issue no. 6 of 7 September 1848, Don Pirlone announces that because of popular demand there would soon be a reprint of the first two issues and it must have been at this point that copies of issue no. 1 came out with the image of Don Pirlone instead of the eagle, as one can see from both the holdings in the British Library and the Biblioteca di Storia Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome. Also, by the time of the second reprint, the figure of Don Pirlone had been reversed and slightly changed, maybe due to the fact that the publishers by then had already changed three times (A. Natali - Della Pallade - Bertinelli).
[4]. Some of the lithographs on the early issues, as noted by Pizzo (cit., p. 9) carry a monogram, either "P" or "EP". It seems safe to assume this might refer to Enrico Parmiani, rather than the draughtsman, as Pizzo tentatively suggested.
[5]. For another very amusing example of the editor being extremely dismissive of the intellectual capacity of the printer see issue no. 75 of Saturday 2 December 1848. A drawing for that particularly print is found in Rome (see Pizzo 2005, cat. XXVIII).
[6]. As the copy held by the British Library had been temporarily unavailable in the course of this study, the BM is very grateful to D.ssa Laura Nuvoloni for easing the consultation of the copy held in Cambridge University Library.
[7]. On p. 178 of the journal the following is found: "Ora questo quadro [issued on October 24th] io l'avevo presentato al Revisore dei Sacri Palazzi, e mi aveva dato il voluto 'imprimatur' e posso farmi vedere da chi mi pare e piace, e passeggiare tranquillamente anch'io da un punto all'altro della capitale senza paura dei Carabinieri;..." [Now, I had shown this picture to the censor of the apostolical palace and he had given me the much wanted "imprimatur", so I was able to be seen by whoever I wanted and walk about from one corner of the capital to the other without having fear of the Carabinieri...]. Also on the issue of 6 November 1848 is mentioned: "Questa mattina mi son recato da lui [Buttaoni], come al solito, collo scartafaccio dei miei disegni, perché ci metta sotto, o sopra, o più qua, o più là, dove meglio gli piace, il mio legale imprimatur di antica legge anticostituzionale..." [This morning, as usual, I went to him [the censor] with my batch of drawings so that he could put on them - whether under or on top, here or there, wherever he likes - my legal 'imprimatur' originated by that old unconstitutional law...]. For an extensive description of how unconstitutional the law was see the defence speech at the trial of G.G. Pichi published in issue n. 58 on 10 November 1848, which was exceptionally longer, with eight pages intstead of four.
[8]. "It is established by the authentic registers that at the top of the original drawing the words "Home for the poor" were missing. These words, which determine the injurious meaning of the city council, have been added afterwards. It has been previously made clear that, once a drawing has been admitted, it is not allowed to add anything without a new consultation. It is therefore regretted that it is not possible to give the 'Publicetur'. F.D. Buttaoni. Master of the Apostolical Palace.' " Note that in that issue is mentioned that the journal was published in the evening rather than the morning (see also 1948,1009.70).
One of the pen and wash drawings held in Rome (Pizzo 2005, cat. XXXIII) also bears Buttaoni's Imprimatur, but interestingly was not published.
[9]. Some of A.L. Smith's handwritten material at Balliol College Archive has been compared to these notes, but it does not seem to be by the same hand. Many thanks to Anna Sander (Lonsdale Curator) for her help in facilitating the consultation. Further research into the handwriting of Smith's wife, who acted as his secretary, or some of his children, might prove fruitful.
[10]. The reference is to groups of bohemian foreign artists who used to gather in the afternoon in Roman Cafes amusing themselves whilst reading "Il Don Pirlone" and, after having joined Garibaldi's troops, gathered in the evenings for supper after each battle.
[11]. Baird Smith tells us also that Arthur Lionel Smith did correspond with another of his relatives, that is his aunt Sarah Strutt.
Literature:
'Il Don Pirlone. Giornale di Caricature Politiche', Roma 1848-49, nos. 1-234; M. Pinto, 'Don Pirlone a Roma. Memorie di un Italiano dal 1 Settembre 1848 al 31 Dicembre 1850', Torino 1850 [sic], 3 voll.; G.M. Trevelyan, 'Garibaldi and the Defence of the Roman Republic', London - New York 1907; [M. Baird Smith], 'Arthur Lionel Smith, Master of Balliol College, 1916-1924', London 1928; S. Aloisi, 'Antonio Masutti, il litografo dell'irredentismo', in "La Domenica del Messaggero", 12 March 1995 [many thanks to Dott. Carbonetto of the 'Messaggero Veneto' for scanning this through]; G. Nazzi, Dizionario biografico friulano, 2nd ed., Udine 1997; F. Guida, 'Michelangelo Pinto, un letterato e patriota romano tra Italia e Russia', Roma 1998; M. Pizzo (ed.), 'La satira restaurata. Disegni del 1848 per il Don Pirlone', "Rassegna Storica del Risorgimento", 2005, suppl. fasc. I, no. 4; R. Rütten in Philippe Kaenel & Rolf Reichardt, 'The European Print and cultural transfer in the 18th and 19th centuries', Hildesheim 2007, pp. 547-574 (who did not know these drawings).
Also for a detailed account of the events of the Roman Republic with many references to "Il Don Pirlone" journal, see G. Leti, 'La Rivoluzione e la Repubblica Romana', Roma 1913.
Below follows a list of the registration numbers of the album drawings in chronological order (withouth repeating the first part of Museum registration number, as it is the same for all). Drawings nos. 1948,1009.43 and 125 were not published, but have dates on them. 1948,1009.85 was also not published, does not have a date and its subject does not allow a precise collocation, it is therefore not included in this list and 1948,1009.83 is not for the journal and possibly not by Masutti either:
1948,1009.93, 94, 76, 62, 92, 91, 61, 90, 31, 114, 32v., 33, 111, 32, 112, 123, 122, 30, 115, 113, 78, 75, 116, 117, 59, 72, 118, 119, 110, 29, 109, 120, 51, 74, 48, 108, 50, 107, 106, 71, 28, 25, 60, 105, 49, 104, 70, 103, 121, 47, 24, 102, 46, 45, 101, 27, 100, 99, 124, 98, 34, 73, 97, 54, 20, 22, 23, 26, 77, 35, 86, 87, 52, 44, 88, 89, 67, 69, 96, 56, 57, 36, 79, 80, 66, 95, 64, 37, 63, 43, 21, 38, 58, 55, 41, 42, 81, 65, 68, 40, 39, 84, 82, 53, 125.
Comment to 1948,1009.20
The present drawing is related to "Il Don Pirlone" issue of Tuesday, 13 March 1849, no.156 and the title from the manuscript list found in the above mentioned Cambridge volume reads as follows: "Napoleone assistito da un genio prevede che nel 1850, la libertà / deve battersi coi Re, e che l'Europa diverrà o tutta Cosacca, o / tutta Republicana." [Napoleon assisted by a genius is writing a profecy that in 1850 liberty has to battle against the Kings, and that Europe will either become entirely Cossack or entirely Republican].
The manuscript note under the drawing interprets it as follows: "Napoleon looking with prophetic eye from his / island prison on the struggle between Liberty / and Royal Power which was to shake the thrones / of Europe to their foundation in 1848-50."
The image is used again in Michelangelo Pinto's "Don Pirlone a Roma. Memorie di un Italiano dal 1 Settembre 1848 al 31 Dicembre 1850", Torino 1850 [sic], vol. III, tav. CCLXX and in L.[Gino] Daelli, "A relic of the Italian Revolution of 1849....", New Orleans [1854?]. In both of the latter publications the date is indicated as '18..', whereas in the present drawing is clearly 1850 (for further observations about the allegedly intentional difference in the indication of the date see Rütten, cit., and in particular p. 551).
Don Pirlone makes a reference to Napoleon's "prophecy" on the issue of 8 March 1849 (p. 608) and his view is that Europe will be both Russian and Red ("russo-rossa") if, as he is predicting, the Tsar will succeed in marrying his daughter to Louis Napoleon. See also no. 1948,1009.34, 36 and 54.
Lit.: I. Lodi-Fè Chapman, 'Antonio Masutti and the Political Caricatures of "Il Done Pirlone"', "Print Quarterly", XXX, September 2013, pp. 293-307
- Location
- Not on display
- Associated titles
Associated Title: Don Pirlone
- Acquisition date
- 1948
- Acquisition notes
- This item has an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933-45. The British Museum welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.
An inscription by Smith on the front page, connecting the drawings with 'Don Pirlone' and an inscription explaining the image on a label below the drawing.
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1948,1009.20