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H Beard Print Collection

Cosimo Morelli

1780

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Romanticism 18th Century Architectural

Dominant colour

H Beard Print Collection is a 1780 by Cosimo Morelli, a Romanticism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Cosimo Morelli
When & what style?: 1780 · Romanticism
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

Here’s a tight set of prints from 1780 by Cosimo Morelli. Nine Italian theatres are sliced open so you see both the floor plan and the raised stage in one view. The sheets were bound into one volume titled “Pianta, e Spaccato del Nuovo Teatro d’Imola.” Morelli wasn’t just an architect—he also carved these precise cross-section prints himself. Romanticism shows up in the way light and shadow play across the raked seating and ornate proscenium. Flip to the theatre in Imola first; it’s the one he drew and named the volume after.

The story of this work

Overview

The volume contains sixteen printed leaves illustrating cross sections, elevations, and plans of nine theaters, including those in Napoli, Argentina, Bologna, Imola, Genova, Fano, Vetruvio, the Benedetto in Venice, and the Vicenza del Palladio, published in 1780 under the title *Pianta, e Spaccato del Nuovo Teatro d'Imola Architettura del Cavalier Cosimo Morelli*.

Read the full account in the museum source.