Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae. Joust held in the Belvedere Courtyard as part of the wedding celebrations of Annibale Altemps and Ortensia Borromeo on 5 March 1565.

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Maker

Monogrammist HCB (printmaker)
c.1560-c.1575 (Life dates)
(publisher)
1512-1577

Title

Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae. Joust held in the Belvedere Courtyard as part of the wedding celebrations of Annibale Altemps and Ortensia Borromeo on 5 March 1565.

Date of Production

1565

Medium

medium : material : ink & support : material : paper

Dimensions

Height: 44.7 cm
Width: 58.1 cm

Object Number

B.1978.PG.102.113

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: 138

Inscription: Monstra della giostra datta nel Teatro di Palazzo / ridotto in questa forma dalla sta. N.S. Pio 4o come / si Vede nella stampa della pianta, con le sue mesure:

Inscription: Ant. / Lafreri / formis

Inscription: HCB. / fecit

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)
Michael Bury, The Print in Italy 1550-1620, London 2001
cat.111
Fig. p. pp.162-3
...More
Huelsen, Christian, 'Das Speculum Magnificentiae des Antonio Lafreri' in Collectanea Variae Doctrinae, Florence 1921 - pp.121-170
cat.100 A (1)
Fig. p. 162
...Less

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