MATERIALS TO THE HISTORY OF THE ITALIAN ARTIST GIOVANNI ROCCA’S ENGRAVINGS FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF UKRAINIAN HISTORY

Abstract

In the collection of graphics of the National Museum of Ukrainian History, which has more than 8 thousand units, about half of the sheets are marked with Pavel Pototskyi’s personal sign, a well-known historian and collector. During the study of the engravings of the 18th–19th centuries the author of the article revealed an unknown owner’s mark “A. Reggio” on three engravings by Giovanni Rocca (1788–1858), based on the originals of Francesco Fontanezi (1751–1795). It was found out that the mark was related to theatrical art. It was Alexander Nikolayevich Beklemishev-Reggio (1820/21(?)–1908), the artist-amateur, watercolorist, decorator, whose name was associated with the notorious case about the fabrication of false series of state-owned banks in the south of the Russian Empire in the 1860s. The article presents memories about Beklemishev-Reggio by his contemporaries – prominent figures of culture and arts, such as Mikhail Nesterov, Ilya Repin, Alexander Amfiteatrov, Nikolay Bogolyubov. The author expects to discover other works from Beklemishev-Reggio’s collection later in the museum collections.

Key words: A. Reggio, Beklemishev-ReggioA. N., Giovanni Rocca, Francesco Fontanezi, theatrical scenery, National Museum of Ukrainian History