[CITTADELLA, Cesare.]

Catalogo istorico de’ pittori e scultori ferraresi e delle opere loro con in fine una nota esatta delle piu celebri pitture delle chiese di Ferrara.

First edition of the most important source book on artistic life in Ferrara then published. Cesare Citadella (1732–1809), a painter, priest, and curator of the natural history cabinet affiliated to Ferrara University, compiled his work by using the unpublished manuscript of Girolamo Baruffaldi who had assembled material on Ferrara’s artists in the earlier eighteenth century (cf. Comolli, Bibliografia (1788) I, pp. 209-216). There is, however, much original work by Citadella, who gives a chronological account of Ferrara painters, sculptors, and engravers. Each Life is followed by a long list of the artist’s works to be found in Ferrara; the artistic output is critically evaluated. Baruffaldi’s book was not published until 1844-46.