Carlo d'Ottavio Fontana

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Carlo d'Ottavio Fontana, portrait of Giuseppe Tominz in the Museo Revoltella - Galleria d'Arte Moderna , Trieste, 1832

Carlo d'Ottavio Fontana (born September 22, 1774 in Castel San Pietro , † November 29, 1832 in Trieste ) was a Swiss businessman and collector.

Life

Born in what is now the canton of Ticino in Switzerland, Fontana's family moved to Trieste in 1777, where his father won a contract for the urban development of the “colle di Scorcola”. The construction work on historical settlement sites entailed archaeological excavations, which Fontana became enthusiastic about with increasing age. Fontana initially ran a pharmacy, which he sold in 1807. In 1808 he opened a trading house for international business relations (today's "Casa Fontana"). A little later he became a member of the Trieste Stock Exchange, established himself in the Trieste trading class and achieved prosperity. This enabled him to build up a significant collection of Etruscan vases, archaeological objects and ancient coins over time.

Fontana's coin collection grew (also through the purchase of foreign collections) into one of the most important collections of Greek and Roman coins of its time and is said to have comprised 40,000 coins. Parts of the collection have been cataloged in three volumes by Domenico Sestini .

Fontana had a son, Antonio (1809-1886). His son was also called Carlo Ottavio (1837–1896).

collection

  • Domenico Sestini : Descrizione d'alcune medaglie greche del Museo del signore Carlo d'Ottavio Fontana di Trieste. Three volumes. Piatti, Florence 1822–1829 (digital copies: Volume 1 , Volume 2 , Volume 3 ).

Fonts

  • with Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall : Copie figurée d'un rouleau de papyrus trouvé en Égypte. Strauss, Vienna 1822.
  • Descrizione della Serie Consolare del Museo di Carlo d'Ottavio Fontana di Trieste fatta dal suo Possessore. Piatti, Florence 1827, ( digitized version ).
  • Illustrazione d'una Serie di Monete dei Vescovi di Trieste fatta dal suo Possessore. Weis, Triest 1832, ( digitized version ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arneth : Art. VI. Descrizione d'alcune medaglie greche del Museo del signore Carlo d'Ottavio Fontana di Trieste, per Domenico Sestini. Firenze 1822. 4. In: Yearbooks of Literature. Vol. 21, 1823, ZDB -ID 2702736-3 , pp. 171-178 , here pp. 172 , 178 .
  2. ^ Carlo d'Ottavio Fontana in the Museo Revoltella, Trieste
personal data
SURNAME Fontana, Carlo d'Ottavio
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss businessman and collector
DATE OF BIRTH September 22, 1774
PLACE OF BIRTH Castel San Pietro
DATE OF DEATH November 29, 1832
Place of death Trieste