Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae. Bifolio print of the Porta Maggiore.
Copyright
Work in the public domain
Maker
(publisher)
1512-1577
1512-1577
Title
Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae. Bifolio print of the Porta Maggiore.
Date of Production
1549
Medium
medium : material : ink & support : material : paper
Dimensions
Height: 37 cm
Width: 49 cm
Width: 49 cm
Object Number
B.1978.PG.102.26
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: TI. CLAVDIVS DRVSI F. CAESAR AVGVSTVS GERMANICVS PONTIF. MAXIM / .... / ... / SVA IMPENSA IN VRBEM PERDUCENDAS CVRAVIT.
Inscription: 37
Inscription: IMP. CAESAR. VESPASIANVS . AVGVST. PONTIF. MAX . TRIB . POT . II . .... / ..... / .... ANNOS NOVEM SVA IMPENSA VRBI RESTITVIT.
Inscription: IMP. T. CAESAR. DIVI . F . VESPASANVS . AVGVSTVS . PONTIFEX . MAXIMVS TRIBVNIC. / ..... / .... AQVARVM A SOLO VESTUSTATE DILAPSAE ESSENT NOVA FORMA REDVCENDAS SVA IMPENSA CVRAVIT.
Inscription: Veteris aquae Claudiae ex Tiburtino forma; via portaque Naevia ac Labicana, nunc Maioris appellatione, notissima; servatis architecturae legibus, et eadem in anteriore exterioreque parte, uncialium litterarum inscriptione repetita; nobilis. / Antonij Lafrerij Romae 1549
Inscription: 37
Inscription: IMP. CAESAR. VESPASIANVS . AVGVST. PONTIF. MAX . TRIB . POT . II . .... / ..... / .... ANNOS NOVEM SVA IMPENSA VRBI RESTITVIT.
Inscription: IMP. T. CAESAR. DIVI . F . VESPASANVS . AVGVSTVS . PONTIFEX . MAXIMVS TRIBVNIC. / ..... / .... AQVARVM A SOLO VESTUSTATE DILAPSAE ESSENT NOVA FORMA REDVCENDAS SVA IMPENSA CVRAVIT.
Inscription: Veteris aquae Claudiae ex Tiburtino forma; via portaque Naevia ac Labicana, nunc Maioris appellatione, notissima; servatis architecturae legibus, et eadem in anteriore exterioreque parte, uncialium litterarum inscriptione repetita; nobilis. / Antonij Lafrerij Romae 1549
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.24
Fig. p. 147
cat.24
Fig. p. 147
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