Leonardo da Vinci - Hoesch (Raccolta 3). 12 Color Plates (Italy, mid-20th c.)

Leonardo da Vinci. Milano: Roberto Hoesch - Edizioni d'Arte (Raccolta 3), undated; ca. mid-20th century. Softcover/paper-covered hardcover with mounted plate on front cover; issued with twelve loose color reproductions (plates) in printed pockets. A compact, attractively produced Hoesch Raccolta volume devoted to Leonardo da Vinci, containing twelve color reproductions of canonical works including La Gioconda, Autoritratto, La Belle Ferronnière, L'Ultima Cena, Il Redentore and others, presented as heavy-stock plates. The title and list of plates are printed in Italian; the portfolio is typical of Roberto Hoesch's mid-century Edizioni d'Arte series and was issued as Raccolta 3. The front cover carries a color mounted vignette within an impressed frame and the interior includes the printed plate index and brief explanatory leaves. The twelve plates are full-color facsimile reproductions, each with a caption identifying the work and its home (Louvre, Uffizi, Pinacoteca di Brera, etc.). Condition: Overall Very Good+. Boards and binding solid; light toning to endpapers and very mild overall age-toning to text leaves. Original paper wrapper/cover shows light edgewear. All twelve plates are present and in Near-Fine condition with vibrant color, full margins, no appreciable foxing or creasing. No ownership marks, no writing, and no loose or torn text leaves. Please note the volume is undated; imprint reads Roberto Hoesch - Edizioni d'Arte - Milano (Printed in Italy.) Roberto Hoesch was an Italian art-publisher and editor based in Milan, best known for mid-20th-century Edizioni d'Arte portfolios and facsimile print series. His firm specialized in museum-quality reproductions of Renaissance and Old Master paintings (often produced as sets of loose color plates in printed pockets) and frequently issued modestly priced 'Raccolta' volumes intended for collectors and museums. Hoesch editions are noted for their careful typographic presentation, attractive mounts and pockets, and for bringing canonical works (Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, etc.) to a wider postwar European and international audience. Collectors prize intact Hoesch portfolios because of their completeness and the stable, well-printed color reproductions the press supplied. …