La Gerusalemme liberata di Torquato Tasso con le figure di Giambatista PiazzettaTorquato TassoSorrento 1544 - 1595 RomeIn Venice, 1745For Empress Maria TheresaWith engravings by Giambatista Piazzetta33 x 47 cmThis edition of Tasso's epic poem is considered to be one of the most beautiful books from 18. century Venice and reflects a magnificent state of preservation. Furthermore, the volume is dedicated to the ruler Maria Theresa of Austria (1717-1780) and has about seventy illustrations by the Italian Rococo painter Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (1682-1754). The twenty cantos begin with a full-page illustration depicting a scene from the poem and end with an equally full-page final piece. Even before its publication in 1745, 333 copies were sold, emphasising the early popularity of this edition.Piazzetta's illustrations reflect contemporary French Rococo. The very first illustration is a praising allegory of Tasso. The latter is shown in a portrait medallion surrounded by Apollo and the nine Muses. The designs were already in preparation in 1740 and are now in the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York, the Biblioteca Reale in Turin, and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.Particularly impressive copies are in the Royal Collection Trust (RCIN 1081294) with an ornate binding, and in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF Inv. No. RESERVE FOL-BL-764), the latter work containing coloured engravings. In 2019, another copy with an interesting provenance was sold at Christie's for a very high price.