This collection of old engravings, part of the Plovdiv City Art Gallery holdings, justifiably arouses interest and admiration every time it is shown before the public. The most representative of these works will be exhibited at the National Gallery.
The majority of these precious artworks are copperplate engravings created in the Louvre’s ateliers (‘Chalcographie du Louvre’) over almost 200 years—from the 18th century to the beginning of the 20th. Several were published by the Künzli Brothers; by d’Ardoise, Paris; Cadart and Chevalier, the Netherlands and France; and Sgrilli, Italy. They depict a variety of themes: mythological and biblical, palace and ceremonial scenes, genre and pastoral scenes, portraits, and landscapes. The artworks were acquired by bequest from the Museum of the former French College of St Augustine, which functioned in Plovdiv until 1948.
The collection, ‘100 Engravings—the Preserved Artistic Memory of a French College in Bulgaria’, comprises original French, German and Italian artworks. A catalogue of these engravings has been published, with an alphabetical index of all the artists and engravers. For the creation of this significant cultural product, Plovdiv City Art Gallery was awarded a Special Diploma by the Honorary Consul of the Republic of France in Plovdiv, Ms Teofana Bradinska. The project was made possible with the support of the Ministry of Culture, and in partnership with the ‘Old Plovdiv’ Municipal Institute.
