Urbis Romae Descriptio

Engraving, 1555, signed lower right.

Perspective plan of Rome, in oblique projection, from Mount Janiculum. Engraved by Jacob Bos from a drawing by Hughes Pinard and published by Antonio Salamanca. Example in the second state of two printed by Antonio Lafreri.

In the upper center, in a cartouche, is engraved the title: URBIS ROMAE DESCRIPTIO.

In the first box at lower left along the bottom edge is the dedication: Illustrissimo atq[ue] integerrimo Mecenati suo Georgio Card: Armeniaco. Ne prorsus etiosus Romae viverem (Mecaena sopt) operepretium me factarum putavi, si veram Urbis imaginem voluptati co[m]moditatiq[ue] publicae exprimendam curarem. Id simne consecutus hoc meo labore, tuae erit prudentiae indicare Scorsum Catalogum rerum celebrium per notas designavimus, ut facile quisq[ue] possit per elementa alphabetica et numeros omnia dignoscere. Id totum ausi sumus tuae Illustriss. Amplitudini dedicare, suppliciterq[ue] orare, ut boni ae quiq[ue] consulas. Romae Idib. Novemb. MDLV. Tibi, tuis q[ue] Detitiss. & obstrictiss. Cliens Hugo Pinardus Cabilonen. 

This is followed, again in the lower border, by an alphanumeric legend (A-T and 1-96) of 114 references to notable places and monuments, spread over twelve columns. The last box, in the lower right-hand corner, reads: Quam plurima hic notatu digniss. brevitati studentes tacenda putavimus EX TYPIS ET DILIGENTIA ANT. SALAMANCAE and the signature of the engraver Iac. Bossius Belga in aes incidebat. 

“The plan is oriented with north on the left and also shows with good approximation the Albani hills, whose toponymy is derived from Eufrosino della Volpaia's Campagna di Roma of 1547. Pinard's dedication is to Cardinal George d'Armagnac. The city is depicted from a bird's eye view from a raised viewpoint on the perpendicular of the Janiculum, so much so that the street layout is legible. The result is a view with great descriptive content, but also of undoubted pictorial effect. The street fabric and the main buildings are clearly recognizable; for the first time the buildings of contemporary Rome are well described, merging with the ruins of the ancient City, also faithfully depicted. This model of depicting the city would be the basis of printed plans for more than two centuries, also influencing northern European production. The second state of the plate, unchanged, bears the imprint of Antonio Lafreri. The work is described in the publisher's catalog (no. 114) as Roma moderna. The title cartouche shows an abrasion in all the examples we have viewed. This is probably an original afterthought during engraving; alternatively, there may be an earlier state of the plate with a different title, but this is unknown. According to Ehrle, later followed by Hülsen (1921), the plate was inherited by Claudio Duchetti and appears in the inventory of Giacomo Gherardi, described as "Roma anticha e moderna di tre fogli, grande." A later edition of the plate, unknown, may therefore be possible. In the inventory of Gherardi's widow, dated October 17, 1598, the only plate that could identify this plan is the one described (no. 1) as “Roma moderna imperiale” (cfr. Cartografia e topografia italiana del XVI secolo, p. 2378).

Magnificent proof, rich in tone, impressed on contemporary laid paper, trimmed to copperplate or thin margins, minimal restorations to center fold and right side of plan perfectly executed, otherwise in excellent condition.

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

Bifolco-Ronca, Cartografia e topografia italiana del XVI secolo (2018): pp. 2378-79, tav. 1224; C. Hülsen, Das Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae des Antonio Lafreri (1921), n. 2/a; Peter Parshall, Antonio Lafreri's 'Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae, in “Print Quarterly”, 1 (2006); B. Rubach, Ant. Lafreri Formis Romae (2016), n. 255, I/II; A. Alberti, L’indice di Antonio Lafrery (2010), n. 36, stato unico; Marigliani, Lo splendore di Roma nell’Arte incisoria del Cinquecento (2016), n. XI.1; cfr. D. Woodward, Catalogue of watermarks in Italian printed maps 1540 – 1600 (1996); Ehrle (1908): p. 48, n. 384; Frutaz (1962): n.CXII e tav. 223; Hülsen (1915): IV, pp. 45-46, n. 17; Hülsen (1933): p. 105, IV, n. 16d; Marigliani (2005): p. 123; Marigliani (2007): n. 39; Rocchi (1902): cfr. pp. 46-51 e tav. IV; Roma Veduta (2000): n. 8; Pagani (2012): p. 83; Scaccia Scarafoni (1939): p. 83, n. 145-146; Tooley (1939): nn. 486, 493; Borroni Salvadori (1980): n. 267; Cartografia Rara (1986): n. 110; Castellani (1876): n. 130; Destombes (1970): n. 101; Ruge (1904-16): IV, n. 90.92.