The Roma Cesi or Allegory of Rome

Engraving, 1549, signed and dated in plate in lower center Ant Lafreri R[omae] ∞ D XLVIIII.

Example in the second state of five, before Giovanni Orlandi's imprint. The first state, before of Lafreri's signature, is mentioned by Huelsen and Nagler; it is known only through the example at the British Museum [1947,0319.26.2, cf. Rubach no. 338].

Magnificent proof, richly toned impressed on contemporary laid paper with "crossbow in the circle" watermark (cf. Woodward nos. 203-213), trimmed to copperplate, traces of central crease, restored abrasions to verso, restoration to lower left corner, otherwise in good condition.

Inscribed at lower center: "ROMA VICTRIX DE DACIA PROVINCIA SVBACTA TRIVMPHANS VVLTV AC HABITV BARBARORVM Q[VE] SPOLIS INLVSTRIS" [Rome victorious triumphing over subjugated Dacia-notable for face, dress, and spoils of barbarians]. Inscribed at lower left: "REX BARBARVS NVMIDA CAPTIVVS POPOVLI ROMANI". Inscribed lower right: "REX BARBARVS NVMIDA CAPTIVVS POPOVLI ROMANI".

Inscribed at bottom: "Hæ statuæ in antiquissimo marmore, erudita manu sculptæ, maiestate, uetustatisque ueneratione conspicuæ, ac celebres; Romae, in hortis Fæderici Cardinalis Cæsij omnis generis signorum plenis, una, ampliore loco, honoris causa, collocatæ - Ant Lafreri R[omae] ∞ D XLVIIII" [These statues, in very ancient marble, carved by an erudite hand, remarkable and celebrated for majesty, antiquity and veneration, in Rome, placed all together for the honor they deserve in a larger place, in the gardens of Cardinal Federico Cesi, full of all their signs].

“The three statues were part of the collection of Cardinal Paolo Emilio Cesi (1481- 1537), a passionate collector of epigraphs and ancient statues. Beatrizet's engraving reproduces in the center the statue of the Goddess Rome seated on a throne, and in the base the relief with Germania capta. The group can be dated to the second century AD. On the sides, two statues of barbarian kings from the same period most likely come from the Forum of Trajan. An early drawing of the two side statues, headless and mutilated, had been produced by Heemskerck, who depicted it, along the wall in a corner of the garden of the Cesi house. Aldovrandi in his work Delle statue antiche : “gran statua marmorea intiera vestita et assisa su una sedia di marmo, con una corona di lauro nella man destra e con uno stocco nella sinistra, et ha in testa un elmetto. Vogliono che ella sia una Roma trionfante. È collocata questa bella statua sopra una base antica dinanzi a la quale base è di mezzo rilievo la Dacia tutta mesta vestita” (Aldovrandi). The statues aroused considerable interest, so much so that Clement XI (1700-1721) purchased them to place in the Capitol” (translation from C. Marigliani, Lo splendore di Roma nell’Arte incisoria del Cinquecento).

The work belongs to the Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae, the earliest iconography of ancient Rome.

The Speculum originated in the publishing activities of Antonio Salamanca and Antonio Lafreri (Lafrery). During their Roman publishing careers, the two editors-who worked together between 1553 and 1563-started the production of prints of architecture, statuary, and city views related to ancient and modern Rome. The prints could be purchased individually by tourists and collectors, but they were also purchased in larger groups that were often bound together in an album. In 1573, Lafreri commissioned a frontispiece for this purpose, where the title Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae appears for the first time. Upon Lafreri's death, two-thirds of the existing copperplates went to the Duchetti family (Claudio and Stefano), while another third was distributed among several publishers. Claudio Duchetti continued the publishing activity, implementing the Speculum plates with copies of those "lost" in the hereditary division, which he had engraved by the Milanese Amborgio Brambilla. Upon Claudio's death (1585) the plates were sold - after a brief period of publication by the heirs, particularly in the figure of Giacomo Gherardi - to Giovanni Orlandi, who in 1614 sold his printing house to the Flemish publisher Hendrick van Schoel. Stefano Duchetti, on the other hand, sold his own plates to the publisher Paolo Graziani, who partnered with Pietro de Nobili; the stock flowed into the De Rossi typography passing through the hands of publishers such as Marcello Clodio, Claudio Arbotti and Giovan Battista de Cavalleris. The remaining third of plates in the Lafreri division was divided and split among different publishers, some of them French: curious to see how some plates were reprinted in Paris by Francois Jollain in the mid-17th century. Different way had some plates printed by Antonio Salamanca in his early period; through his son Francesco, they goes to Nicolas van Aelst's. Other editors who contributed to the Speculum were the brothers Michele and Francesco Tramezzino (authors of numerous plates that flowed in part to the Lafreri printing house), Tommaso Barlacchi, and Mario Cartaro, who was the executor of Lafreri's will, and printed some derivative plates. All the best engravers of the time - such as Nicola Beatrizet (Beatricetto), Enea Vico, Etienne Duperac, Ambrogio Brambilla, and others  - were called to Rome and employed for the intaglio of the works.

All these publishers-engravers and merchants-the proliferation of intaglio workshops and artisans helped to create the myth of the Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae, the oldest and most important iconography of Rome. The first scholar to attempt to systematically analyze the print production of 16th-century Roman printers was Christian Hülsen, with his Das Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae des Antonio Lafreri of 1921. In more recent times, very important have been the studies of Peter Parshall (2006) Alessia Alberti (2010), Birte Rubach and Clemente Marigliani (2016). 

Bibliografia

C. Hülsen, Das Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae des Antonio Lafreri (1921), n. 70/A; cfr. Peter Parshall, Antonio Lafreri's 'Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae, in “Print Quarterly”, 1 (2006); B. Rubach, Ant. Lafreri Formis Romae (2016), n. 338, II/V; A. Alberti, L’indice di Antonio Lafrery (2010), n. 85, II/V; Marigliani, Lo splendore di Roma nell’Arte incisoria del Cinquecento (2016), n. V.54; cfr, D. Woodward, Catalogue of watermarks in Italian printed maps 1540 – 1600 (1996); S. Bianchi, Catalogo dell’opera incisa di Nicolas Beatrizet, n. 95, II/V.