Octagonal-shaped temple with the coat of arms of the House of Este - section and plan

Etching, circa 1560/61, without printing details in is first issue.

Example of the second state (unknown before) with the inscription Visitur Romae at lower right and the imprint Ioannes Orlandi formis romae 1602 at lower left.

A fine impression, printed on contemporary laid paper with “anchor in double outline with star” (cf. Woodward nn. 158-172), trimmed to the platemark, very good condition.

Huelsen describes this very rare engraving as a pavilion that stood in the villa on the Quirinal Hill that Cardinal Ippolito d'Este rented when he came to Rome. This plate, which shows the section and plan of the small temple, matches one that instead depicts the entire temple. The Villa d'Este at the Quirinale was also known as the Vigna del cardinal di Ferrara because it was rented by Cardinal Ippolito d'Este who was born in Ferrara, and as the Vigna di Napoli because it belonged to the Neapolitan Carafa family. The casino, thanks to Mascherino's renovation, became the first nucleus of the Quirinal Palace.

“This perspectival section and plan of an octagonal domed pavilion is pendant to the elevation on the same folio. Huelsen (1921, p. 166, nos 132-133) used the presence of the eagle and fleur-de-lis - heraldic devices of the Este family - on the elevation to connect it with an octagonal casino in the gardens of Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este (1509-72) on the Quirinal, visible on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century plans of Rome (Huelsen 1917, pp. 92 and 122). David Coffin refers to the casino as having been erected in 1561 and describes its purported function (Coffin 1979, pp. 204-5). Huelsen's theory seems to be supported by a plan of the gardens dating from the 1560s, where the footprint of the casino exactly matches that here (New York, MMA, D&P, 49.92.8; D'Orgeix 2001, pp. 185-6, fig. 40, p. 188). The elevation, however, differs slightly from the appearance of the casino as shown, albeit sketchily, on Etienne Duperac's 1577 plan of Rome and from the more detailed representation on a 1612 bird's-eye view of the gardens by Giovanni Maggi, which also differ from each other. It is possible, therefore, as Ian Campbell has suggested, that these prints show alternative proposals for the project rather than what was actually executed, which would also account for the windows appearing in the drum of the dome in the section but not in the elevation” (cfr. Mark McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo, Architecture, Topography and Military Maps, II, pp. 463-464, n. 2515).  

Although unsigned the use of etching is reminiscent of that of the early architectural works of Etienne Duperac, who arrived in Rome in 1559.

A very rare work, part of the Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae (The Mirror of Roman Magnificence). The Speculum found its origin in the publishing endeavors of Antonio Salamanca and Antonio Lafreri. During their Roman publishing careers, the two foreign publishers - who worked together between 1553 and 1563 - initiated the production of prints recording art works, architecture and city views related to Antique and Modern Rome. The prints could be bought individually by tourists and collectors, but were also purchased in larger groups which were often bound together in an album. In 1573, Lafreri commissioned a title page for this purpose, which is where the title ‘Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae’ first appears. Lafreri envisioned an ideal arrangement of the prints in 7 different categories, but during his lifetime, never appears to have offered one standard, bound set of prints. Instead, clients composed their own selection from the corpus to be bound, or collected a group of prints over time. When Lafreri died, two-third of the existing copper plates went to the Duchetti family (Claudio and Stefano), while another third was distributed among several publishers. The Duchetti appear to have standardized production, offering a more or less uniform version of the Speculum to their clients. The popularity of the prints also inspired other publishers in Rome to make copies however, and to add new prints to the corpus.

Bibliografia

C. HÜLSEN, 1921, p. 166, 133, A; Mark McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo, Architecture, Topography and Military Maps, II, pp. 463-464, n. 2515; C. Marigliani, Lo splendore di Roma nell'arte incisoria del Cinquecento, VI.30.