Item #403526 Il canto dell'impresa di Igor'. Neil MOORE, Eridiano BAZZARELLI, b. 1950.
Il canto dell'impresa di Igor'

Il canto dell'impresa di Igor'

Verona: Alessandro Zanella for Verba Edizioni, 1988. Folio (13 x 8 inches). Text in Russian and Italian. 40, [1] pp. Three fine etchings by Neil Moore. Original wrappers with an etching by Moore mounted on front cover; slipcase. A fine copy. Item #403526

FIRST EDITION, number 50 of 90 copies signed by the illustrator. The Australian artist Neil Moore started his career as an etcher, and continued etching and painting after he moved to Italy in 1988. He typically does his own printing, but the etchings for this book were executed by Anna Zilotto. Moore’s illustrations to this military epic are densely rendered, imbued with action and a Dürer-esque handling of line and shading. The illustration at left captures a moment of battle in medias res, the spears entering and leaving the frame of the image. Moore captures a dramatic interstitial moment between life to death, a vivid portrayal of the fallen and falling.

The text is an Italian translation of the Old Slavic poem by an anonymous author, The Tale of Igor’s Campaign, giving the account of the failed raid of Igor Svyatoslavich (d. 1202) against the Polovtsians of the Don River region. The authenticity of the poem has been questioned, but scholarship now generally agrees that it is authentic and dates to the 12th century. Alexander Borodin composed an opera based on the poem and staged it in St. Petersburg in 1890.

Price: $450.00

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