Art Chowder March | April, Issue 26 | Page 34

Étienne Dupérac (French, ca. 1535–1604), Vestigii Panteone di M. Agrippa (Remains of the Pantheon of Marcus Agrippa), 1575. From the Veduta tratta dall’opera I vestigi dell’antichità di Roma raccolti et ritratti in perspettiva. Engraving on paper, 8 ½ x 15 inches. Jundt Art Museum, Gonzaga University; Museum purchase with funds provided by the Fredrick & Genevieve Schlatter Endowed Print Fund, 2019.2. A ccompanying the exhibition is a 109-page catalogue- guidebook by the museum’s director and curator, Dr. Paul A. Manoguerra, with artists’ bios and important contextual information. Whimsically but intentionally, it is bound in a slim format resembling a Michelin Guide. A display case contains several travel Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian, 1720–1778), Veduta di Castel S. Angelo, 1745. From Varie vedute di Roma antica e moderna, published 1752. Etching on paper, 5 1/4 x 7 3/8 inches. Jundt Art Museum, Gonzaga University; The Bolker Collection: Gift of Norman and Esther Bolker, 1984.5.220R. guidebooks from the 19th century. The exhibition’s title derives from the “Grand Tour” of Europe during the 16th to 18th centuries, when (preeminently) young English gentlemen toured and sojourned on the Continent to complement and enhance their classical and world-wise education. No quick sightseeing trip, travel was slow by our standards and could be dangerous. 2 The idea was to visit the important centers of art and learning and stay for extended periods, where one could make personal connections and acquire things to bring home, such as works of art. Grand Tourists were encouraged to visit artists in their studios. 3 The Tour could last several years. The heart of the Tour lay in Italy: Venice, Florence, and especially Rome. 4 As the Grand Tourists grew in numbers, so did a tourism industry, including the proliferation of travel books and prints of notable monuments, a number of which are included in the exhibition (the only Italian views by Italian artists). 34 ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE