ENGRAVING BY SOLOMON CARDELLI (ITALIAN-RUSSIAN END OF 18TH- BEG. OF 19TH C.) AFTER THE DRAWING OF DOMENICO SCOTTI (ITALIAN 1780-?)
The Defeat of Marshal Victor in the Town of Old Borisov, November 15 and 16, 1812, 1814
engraving on paper
54 x 67.4 cm (21 1/4 x 26 1/2 in.) [sight]
signed, dated in plate on the bottom, titled in Russian and French on the bottom. Published in St. Petersburg in 1814.

LOT NOTES
Part of the series dedicated to the victory of Russian Army in the War of 1812. The publication of a series of pictures named “A Collection of 12 Prints Featuring the Aftermath of the Most Memorable Victories over the Enemy in 1812†was spearheaded by Domenico Scotti (1780-1825), a historical painter who worked mostly in Moscow before the war. Solomon Cardelli, who held the title of Royal Engraver of the Russian Empire, was hired to produce etchings of Scotti`s images because he had a solid reputation among St. Petersburg publishers as a printer whose works were advertised and traded by booksellers such as M. Glazunov and I. Zaikin. He produced the majority of his printed portraits of the heroes of the War of 1812 in post-war St. Petersburg. This series of 12 etchings was executed under Cardelli`s guidance by Ioachim Beggrov and Sergei Fedorov based on original Scotti pictures.

LITERATURE
Civil War and Russian Society 1812-1912, I.D. Sytin, Moscow, 1911, volume V, chapter 4.