Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae. Vault scaffolding from St. Peter's Basilica.

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Maker

(printmaker)
1520-1580
(publisher)
1512-1577

Title

Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae. Vault scaffolding from St. Peter's Basilica.

Date of Production

1561

Medium

medium : material : ink & support : material : paper

Dimensions

Height: 32.1 cm
Width: 46.8 cm

Object Number

B.1978.PG.102.111

Mode of Acquisition

Count Antoine Seilern, bequest, 1978

Credit

Courtauld Gallery, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Location

Not currently on display

Label Text

The Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae (‘Mirror of Roman Magnificence’), one of the most celebrated print collections of the Renaissance, is unique in that no two known examples are alike. Antoine Lafréry, a French publisher based in Rome, kept a large stock of prints depicting Roman antiquities, sculptures and contemporary architecture, from which clients could make a selection according to their individual interests. The volume was then bound with a standard frontispiece.

Inscriptions

Inscription: 134

Inscription: La presente Figura dimostra una ar: / Madura ò vero Incavallatura delle / Volte Di Sa’. Pietro Di Roma fatta da / Mro. Anto. Da Sa. Gallo & ancora / messa Inopera da Michael Ang: Buonaroto pur nelle medesime volte fatte da lui. / è volendo sapere la sua misure disotto à detta ve la Canna Romana / partito in parte . 10 . detti palmi.

Inscription: Sara utile à qual si voglia persona / haver messo nella presente Carta / le misure antichi è modern qual sono / Tolte da quelle stesse di Campido: / glio seruono à architetti muratori / è falegniemi & amercanti et ad altri / artieri / ch esercitano le misure aparte: / nenti alla loro persessione.

Inscription: Canna partita in palmi . 10 . con la quale / è fatta detta armadura. / Centro della / Volta / Quest’ è ‘l piede Romano, partito in onci . 12 . & detti .16. / Piede Greco è partito in onci .12. & deti .16. / Quest è ‘l palmo degli Architetti partito in onci .12. & minuti .60. / Quest’ è l’ottava parte della canna de’ mercatanti. / Quest’ è la meta del braccio de’ mercatanti, partito in paloni quattro’

Inscription: Anto. Lafreri Sequani Formis / Roma Anno .1561.

Inscription: Iacobus Bosius Belga, Suma diligentia circino except in aesque incidit.

Provenance

Information not yet known or updated

Literature

Zorach, Rebecca, The Virtual Tourist in Renaissance Rome: printing and collecting the Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae, Chicago 2008
Parshall, Peter, 'Antonio Lafreri's Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae' in 'Print Quarterly', 2006 - pp. 3-28; XXIII (I)
Huelsen, Christian, 'Das Speculum Magnificentiae des Antonio Lafreri' in Collectanea Variae Doctrinae, Florence 1921 - pp.121-170
cat.97 A (1)
Fig. p. 162

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