gems, jade, Fischer-Book, glyptic arts, glyptic, engraved gems, cameo

A lavishly illustrated catalogue of the celebrated collection of engraved gems formed by the Venetian connoisseur and collector Anton Maria Zanetti. The volume presents 80 full-page engraved plates depicting ancient and modern intaglios and cameos in Zanetti’s collection, based on drawings by Zanetti himself. Antonio Francesco Gori supplied the scholarly descriptions and commentary in Latin, with an Italian translation by Girolamo Francesco Zanetti; the Latin and Italian texts are presented in parallel. The entries discuss the subjects represented on the gems, their iconography, inscriptions, artists and antiquarian significance, making the work an important eighteenth-century contribution to glyptic studies and the documentation of European collections of engraved gems. Published in Venice by Giambattista Albrizzi in 1750, the work is also known from its half-title as the Dactyliotheca Zanettiana.