Palazzo dè Sig.ri D'Aste nella Piazza di S. Marco

A beautiful view of Palazzo Bonaparte, taken from Il quarto libro del nuovo teatro dei palazzi in prospettiva di Roma moderna, published by Domenico de Rossi in 1699, as the fourth book to complete Il nuovo teatro delle fabriche, et edificii, in prospettiva di Roma moderna. Book one (second, third) by Giovan Battista Falda (G. Giacomo de Rossi, 1665-1669).

One of the most beautiful collections of plates on Baroque Rome, whose representation is accompanied by a celebratory intent of papal policy. The work, in fact, was intended to disseminate the new image of the city, with its churches and palaces. After the death of Giovanni Battista Falda (1643-1678) and to follow up his famous work on the 'fabbriche', a fourth book was edited by the Roman architect and engraver Alessandro Specchi (1668-1729) to describe the building enterprises commissioned by Innocent XII Pignatelli.

Unlike Falda's engravings, these are engravings that place the buildings in their urban context in such a way that they not only describe their architectural structure but - with a scenario of carriages and horses, servants and masters, shopkeepers and servants - also suggest their social use. The result is a series of pictures of the city that anticipate the characteristic eighteenth-century views.