Filius Niobes in palatio magni ducis Etruriae (Niobid climbing a rock)

At the beginning of 1583, thirteen sculptures were found in the vineyard belonging to Gabriele and Tomaso Tommasini, located a short distance from St. John in Lateran in Rome, most of which were still in an enviable state of preservation. The discovery, already sensational in itself considering the number of marbles found, was perceived as even more singular since almost every statue appeared to be part of a grandiose group illustrating one of the most tragic stories of ancient myth: the murder of Niobe's children. As a matter of fact, this woman, wife of Amphion, the king of Thebes, had insulted Latona, claiming that she was a better mother than her. This act of hubris (hybris in Greek) was severely punished by the goddess, who sent her sons Apollo and Artemis to kill the seven sons and seven daughters of the insolent woman. Despite being turned into a stone, Niobe, torn by grief, couldn’t stop weeping and her tears became an everlasting fountain. This connection between water and maternal figure was probably the reason behind the fortune of this group, that was considered the ideal decoration for monumental nymphaeums. It is very likely that also the Florentine Niobids, as well as the group that used to decorate the Nymphaeum-Stadium of Villa Adriana or the one of the Horti Sallustiani, were originally placed in a hemicycle fountain erected in the area of the ancient Horti Lamiani, the remains of which were brought to light in the 19th-century excavations on the Esquiline Hill in the area of today’s Piazza Vittorio Emanuele. Therefore, the Florentine group would have been part of the decoration of a nymphaeum built inside one of the vast parks owned by the emperor that encircled the Western side of the centre of Rome, and in which the statues would have been arranged following the outline of the structure, with the group of Niobe and her younger daughter placed in the centre

Plate taken from the Antiquarum statuarum urbis Romae...Io. Baptista de Cavalleris authore, the first systematic collection of illustrations of ancient sculptures preserved in Roman collections, which is due to the work of the engraver and draftsman Giovanni Battista Cavalieri (1525 circa - 1601) in the second half of the 16th century.

The repertory, a point of reference for antiquarian studies, was widely circulated and contributed to direct the interest of scholars of the time towards ancient statuary.

The number of plates, about 50 in the first editions (datable to about 1561/62) was subsequently enlarged; before 1584 books I and II were published with 100 numbered engravings of sculptures, organized according to the collections they belonged to. In 1594 come to the light of the III and IV volume of the work, in which appeared other 100 new tables, this time ordered according to the iconography of the subjects. The sculptures are depicted on neutral backgrounds, without architectural references.

The work, with the title Antiquarum statuarum Urbis Romae primus, undated, was first dedicated to Ottone Truchsess von Walburg - first as deacon of S. Maria in Trastevere (1561/62) and then as cardinal of Albano (1562/70). Later, with the title Antiquarum statuarum Urbis Romae primus et secundus liber, the frontispiece is dedicated to Cardinal Ludovico Madruzzo, and can be dated 1584/85.

In 1594, with the title Antiquarum Statuarum Urbis Romae tertius et quartus liber, one hundred new plates were published with a dedication to Cardinal G. Paluzzi degli Albertoni, dated June 1593. Please note that, while in the first two books the statues were published according to collections, in the third and fourth are grouped by subject. The collection contains, in addition to the engravings of Giovanni Battista Cavalieri some plates signed by Cherubino Alberti, Orazio de Santis and other famous engravers of the time.

Giovanni Battista de Cavalieri or Cavalleris was an engraver, printer and publisher. Born in Villa Lagarina, near Trento, is active in Venice (since 1559) and Rome, where in 1577 opened a workshop in the Parione district. He resided in the alley of Palazzo Savelli, with a studio near the house. He became brother-in-law of the famous publisher Lorenzo Vaccari. He made plates for Antonio Salamanca, Antonio Lafreri and Bartolomeo Faleti. He began to publish his works around 1560, but always in partnership with others: in 1567 with Perino Zecchini and in 1576 with Lorenzo Vaccari. In 1577 he hired a printer, Francesco Cornuti, publishing works by his contemporaries, including Francesco Salviati, Daniele da Volterra, Raphael, Michelangelo, Polidoro da Caravaggio, Livio Agresti and Baccio Bandinelli.

Engraving, printed on contemporary laid paper, in excellent condition.

Bibliografia

Thomas Ashby, Antiquae Statuae urbis Romae, in Papers of the British School at Rome, IX (1920), pp. 109-158; S. Weber, Artisti trentini ed artisti che operarono nel Trentino, Trento 1933, pp. 72 ss.