Genova dal Giardino Durazzo al Zerbino (Genoa from the Giardino Durazzo al Zerbino)

Art Historical Context

This lithograph by Leopold Zanetti Borzino offers a serene panoramic view of Genoa as seen from the Giardino Durazzo al Zerbino, a historic terraced garden overlooking the Lig port city. Created around1857, the captures the layered rooftops harbor, and distant hills with delicate precision, reflecting the mid-nineteenth-century fascination with vedute—topographic city views that celebrated both natural beauty and urban development during Italy’s Risorgimento era. Executed as a lithograph on chine collé mounted to wove paper, the work exemplifies a technique prized for its ability to convey subtle tonal gradations and fine detail through drawn marks on stone. This medium allowed artists like Zanetti Borzino to produce affordable yet refined images that could circulate widely, bringing distant or elevated perspectives into domestic settings. Housed in the National Gallery of Art’s Rosenwald Collection, the print stands as a quiet testament to the artist’s skill in translating Genoa’s distinctive topography into an intimate, accessible format for viewers of her time and today.