Trompe l'oeil scagliola plaque representing an engraving with a landscape

By Amedeo SEYTER

ROME or TURIN, first half of the 18th century

Signed: Amedeo Saÿter fe.

The plaque presents, in trompe-l'oeil, a red ink engraving of an architecturally styled Italian landscape. The sheet, with its folded and creased corners, rests on a background imitating a yellow-brown breccia marble.

The members of the Seyter family (or Seytter, Saÿter, Seÿter) were active in Rome and Turin at the end of the 17th century and in the first half of the following century. This dynasty renowned for scagliolas was founded by Daniele Seyter, born in Vienna in 1649 and died in Turin in 1705, better known as Daniele Fiammingo, "The Flemish."
Subsequently, three members of the family distinguished themselves in this particular field: Pietro, Amedeo, and Tarsilla Vittoria. Amedeo was probably the most creative. Active in Turin and Rome between 1712 and 1734, he was the nephew of Pietro and likely introduced his daughter, Tarsilla Vittoria, to the art of scagliola. Today, among the few other rare panels recorded, signed or attributed to this artist, we can particularly note: a set of eleven plaques made by Petrus and Amedeo, sold on the English art market (Sotheby's, London, July 6, 2010, lot 12); as well as several others, depicting architectural or landscape views, preserved in the Daninos and Bianchi collections in Florence (illustrated in Anna Maria Massinelli, Scagliola, l'Arte della pietra di luna, Rome, 1997, p.159-186-187 and 188, figs. 101 and 122-124).