Giovanni Battista dit Battista Vicentino Pittoni

Originally from Vicenza, Giovanni Battista Pittoni moved to Venice in 1558 where he worked as an engraver and illustrator. In addition to his engravings of ornaments, grotesques, and cartouches which brought him notoriety, Pittoni played a decisive role in the diffusion of landscapes with classical ruins in the Renaissance. He was the author of Praecipua Aliquot Romanae Antiquitatis Ruinarum Monumenta one of the first albums of landscapes of Roman ruins published in Italy in 1561. This book was largely inspired by the one published by Hieronymus Cock in Antwerp in 1551. In 1581, Pittoni illustrated the book Discorsi sopra L'Antichita di Roma by Vicenzo Scamozzi. While continuing to draw inspiration from the engravings of Hieronymus Cock, Pittoni also made his own compositions. In Le Vite, Vasari mentions the very beautiful landscapes of Pittoni which combine the naturalism of the school of Titian with the mannerism of Hieronymus Cock.