Ventura SALIMBENI (Siena 1568 - 1613) "the Virgin in glory" Original etching with graver retouching signed and dated in the plate on the bottom right "Ventura S. Senensis Inventor Fecit 1590". Beautiful specimen in the first state with the address "St.Fo.Ro" corresponding to the publisher Johannes Statius, of Dutch origin but active in Rome until the end of the 16th century, produced from a perfect plate, capable of making even the several minute engraved details, printed on a portion of thin laid paper on which no watermark is detected, trimmed along the framing line that is not always visible, with some slight rust spots and some thinning but overall in excellent general condition of conservation. The drawing by Salimbeni, preparatory for this engraving, is part of the collections of the Cabinet of Drawings and Prints of the Uffizi Museum inventory 10581F and is thus described “The Virgin seated with both hands on her chest, above the Eternal Father, below various angels, all above the clouds ”. The Archiepiscopal Seminary of Siena has a painting "the Virgin adoring the Eternal Father", dating back to 1595, which seems to be affected by this engraving compositionally although in the absence of many details. A connection is also found with the canvas by Francesco Vanni (Siena 1563 - 1610), half-brother of Ventura, entitled "the Eternal Father appears to the Immaculate Conception" dating from 1595 to 1596 present in the collections of the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena, to witness the strong artistic bond, as well as familiar, between the two painters. Bibliography: Bartsch “Le Peintre-Graveur” Vienna 1818 vol.XVII page 191 n ° 3. Bellini F. in "The Art in Siena under the Medici" Rome 1980 pag.249-250 n ° 102. Ciampolini “Sienese painters of the seventeenth century” Siena 2010 vol.2 pag.727 and following. Nagler "Die Monogrammisten" Munich 1879 vol.V p. 78. (Statius) http://euploos.uffizi.it/inventario-euploos.php?aut=Salimbeni+Ventura Measures in mm: 204ca x 151ca