I remember the first time I went to Greece. I wanted to make sure I had a record of my trip so I took a few pictures… actually I took 36 rolls in 7 days! And as this was long before digital cameras were common, so they all had to be developed. But in the end, they did exactly what they were supposed to do and I have wonderful pictures of my trip.
Today when I go on a trip I’ve got a digital camera and I rarely get any of the pictures printed. My how things change! As much as I look back and see the inconvenience of carrying film canisters and the expense of getting whole rolls developed, the reality is, that was far more convenient than people had it in the past.
Imagine it’s the mid-18th century and you’re a young man (or occasionally a woman) who’s just graduated from Oxford. You’re ready to see the world… so you begin what was known as the Grand Tour. You head off to Paris to work on your French, mix with the aristocracy or the bourgeoisie and experience everything the City of Lights has to offer.
After a few months you begin your journey over the Alps and through Switzerland to make your way to Italy. Once there you’ll visit Turin, Venice, Florence, Rome and various other cultural centers. Throughout your time there you’ll be working on your Italian, studying history, visiting museums and ruins and of course rubbing elbows with the upper crust of Italian society. If music is your passion you’ll likely venture a bit south and spend some months in Naples as well.
Grand Tours were part educational and part epicurean. For the educational aspects wealthy travelers would be accompanied by a Cicerone or Bear-Leader (tutor). They might also have grooms and valets and coachmen as well. The less wealthy would hire guides and tutors along the way as was necessary. For the epicurean aspects of the tours Cicerones or guides would be of help, but often young travelers would seek to experience a city’s delights with local companions… and some, like Byron and Boswell, might spend much of their Tours searching out a given city’s underside of prostitution, gambling and whatever other debauchery they could find.
If you’re from a moneyed family, all along the Grand Tour you’ll pick up souvenirs of your journey in the form of grand paintings or sculptures or furniture or any various sorts of antiquities. If you’re from somewhat more humble origins however – this is a relative statement as by definition anyone embarking on a Grand Tour was from the wealthiest segment of society – and could not afford such luxuries, the Italians had the perfect solution: Intaglios.
Intaglios were typically small plaster stamps with reliefs carved into them. These reliefs often depicted scenes from Greek or Roman mythology, or individuals or scenes from history. The travelers would mount the intaglios into books and then make notes corresponding to each one as to his adventure that resulted in his buying or obtaining that stamp. By the end of the trip a traveler would have books filled with intaglios and notes that would last a lifetime and were perfect tools for telling children stories about their adventures in the world beyond the county line.
Intaglios make for great decorative pieces… of which we have quite a few. Today, rather than coming in books they come mounted in frames that range from a single intaglio to more than a dozen. In addition, they come in various shapes and sizes and themes. Although it is possible to find original intaglios, most today are copies made from molds of the originals. The newer intaglios are usually brighter than the originals as plaster can fade after 200 years! Most intaglios are white but on occasion they will be painted a different color – usually black – in order to create a piece with a different feel.
The next time you find yourself flipping through the pictures of your trip to Paris or Rome and lamenting the fact that you’ve got too many to choose from, just be happy that you had a digital camera and didn’t have to carry around books full of plaster in order to revisit your memories!
Today when I go on a trip I’ve got a digital camera and I rarely get any of the pictures printed. My how things change! As much as I look back and see the inconvenience of carrying film canisters and the expense of getting whole rolls developed, the reality is, that was far more convenient than people had it in the past.
After a few months you begin your journey over the Alps and through Switzerland to make your way to Italy. Once there you’ll visit Turin, Venice, Florence, Rome and various other cultural centers. Throughout your time there you’ll be working on your Italian, studying history, visiting museums and ruins and of course rubbing elbows with the upper crust of Italian society. If music is your passion you’ll likely venture a bit south and spend some months in Naples as well.
Grand Tours were part educational and part epicurean. For the educational aspects wealthy travelers would be accompanied by a Cicerone or Bear-Leader (tutor). They might also have grooms and valets and coachmen as well. The less wealthy would hire guides and tutors along the way as was necessary. For the epicurean aspects of the tours Cicerones or guides would be of help, but often young travelers would seek to experience a city’s delights with local companions… and some, like Byron and Boswell, might spend much of their Tours searching out a given city’s underside of prostitution, gambling and whatever other debauchery they could find.
If you’re from a moneyed family, all along the Grand Tour you’ll pick up souvenirs of your journey in the form of grand paintings or sculptures or furniture or any various sorts of antiquities. If you’re from somewhat more humble origins however – this is a relative statement as by definition anyone embarking on a Grand Tour was from the wealthiest segment of society – and could not afford such luxuries, the Italians had the perfect solution: Intaglios.
Intaglios make for great decorative pieces… of which we have quite a few. Today, rather than coming in books they come mounted in frames that range from a single intaglio to more than a dozen. In addition, they come in various shapes and sizes and themes. Although it is possible to find original intaglios, most today are copies made from molds of the originals. The newer intaglios are usually brighter than the originals as plaster can fade after 200 years! Most intaglios are white but on occasion they will be painted a different color – usually black – in order to create a piece with a different feel.
The next time you find yourself flipping through the pictures of your trip to Paris or Rome and lamenting the fact that you’ve got too many to choose from, just be happy that you had a digital camera and didn’t have to carry around books full of plaster in order to revisit your memories!
Intaglios are often combined in a frame with a variety of sizes and shapes to create compelling decorative pieces. These three feature intaglios in different sized frames.
This intaglio features a carving of 6th Century BC Greek wrestler Milo of Croton as he is devoured by a lion. Original accounts of his death stated he met his end at the claws of wolves, but most depictions in the 18th and 19th century replaced wolves with a lion.
While most intaglios are round, some featured other shapes. The below frame includes three different shapes, including an octagonal one featuring the Greek monster Medusa.
Although intaglio frames are sometimes purchased individually, they are usually purchased in groups as they can be placed in different patterns to fill irregular spaces or balance a room.
Intaglios usually are white plaster, but they are occasionally painted different colors, to give a different look and feel. These sets have been painted black and seem to jump out from the behind the white matting.
During Grand Tours intaglios were collected and pasted into books. On the adjacent page were typically numbers corresponding to each intaglio that would describe where the piece was acquired and often what was depicted in its carving.
While decorative intaglio frames usually feature a number of intaglios, sometimes a single piece is sufficiently compelling to stand on its own. Above a frame features an egg shaped piece with a carving depicting the Greek tragedy of Apollo and Daphne.
As we can see, intaglios are very versatile in how they can be displayed. Above this set of frames features the intaglios sitting on matte made of pages from antique books.
This frame has a distinctly Italian flavor. The bottom intaglio features the Roman Coliseum, the middle intaglio features a lion - a common Italian symbol during the Renaissance, and the top intaglio features a pair of Senators.
Intaglios on our walls in Atlanta.
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