Artaria Pair of views of Isola Bella and Isola Madre circa 1820. Beautiful antique watercolor engravings on copper  depicting the Borromeo islands of Lake Maggiore, Isola Bella and Isola Madre, two closed-up views with the lake animated by boats carrying goods or people.
The bilingual title in in the lower part, of the Austrian Empire Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom, Isola Bella Lago Maggior vista in vicinanza- in der Nahe aufgenommen Lake Maggiore- Vienna at Artaria and Comp. And Isola Madre vista in vicinanza- in der Nahe aufgenommen Lake Maggiore…
The two engravings are set within modern frames measuring cm. 50.5 x 64.5 and are in good condition with large margins. They both come from a private Milanese collection.

Artaria was a firm of print publishers in Vienna, founded in 1760 by the cousins Carlo and Francesco Artaria. In 1770 received an Imperial privilege to run a public shop in the trade of prints; in 1772 the two cousins entered a formal partnership, with Carlo running the business in Vienna and Francesco travelling to maintain contacts with the rest of the European trade and visiting engravers and collectors. From the beginning it was the leading printseller in Vienna, with a large stock of imported modern French and English prints; it maintained close contact with the Mainz/Mannheim branch.
It later specialised in topography, maps, military scenes and music as well as prints, with a separate music catalogue in 1779 of 182 items, including many works by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. The firm continued through the XIXc. and XXc.