Portret van zanger Luigi Marchesi met sonnet 1779

This is a print by Giovanni Battista Cecchi, likely made in 1779. It’s an elegant amalgamation of image and text in muted tones on what appears to be aged paper. The portrait of Luigi Marchesi, framed in an oval at the top, immediately draws the eye. Then the gaze is directed downwards by lines of text arranged in a structured hierarchy. The print is anchored by a sonnet at the bottom, its verses compact and contained. Note the use of an ornate initial capital, 'A,' which serves as a visual entry point, inviting us to decipher the tribute to Marchesi’s talent. Here we observe a celebration of artistic accomplishment through typography. The text, carefully laid out, functions as both description and frame, reflecting Enlightenment ideals of order and reason, and offering a visual expression of the era's admiration for the performing arts.