The POMONA ITALIANA

Count Giorgio Gallesio (1772 – 1839) studied fruit and was famous throughout Europe. Known and respected in agricultural and scientific circles of Europe, he was a member of numerous Agricultural Societies and many Academies.
The grand and demanding project, to which he devoted 21 years, was the compilation of the Pomona Italiana, a “treaty on fruit trees containing the description of the best varieties of fruit cultivated in Italy, their classification, their synonymy and their cultivation, accompanied by coloured plates drawn and coloured in the field and preceded by a treaty on pomology”. This project was undertaken as a great editorial feat that began in Pisa in 1817. The “Pomona” constituted the first and most important collection of images and descriptions of fruit and fruit trees compiled in Italy. Gallesio worked on it for 22 years. It was compiled with extreme care and accompanied by beautiful colour plates. Among the fruit described in this work, Gallesio also reserved a place for grapes. It was a vast work, which was unfortunately interrupted in 1839 following the death of the Count. In “Pomona” is the detailed description of 26 Italian vine varieties, indicated by their synonyms and illustrated by beautiful plates, which are coveted by many collectors. The plates that represent the vine varieties were executed with great skill by various artists, such that in Pomona Italiana scientific objectives and artistic drawings come together beautifully.