Vera Antiqui Capitolii Descriptio

Extraordinary imaginary view of the Camidoglio, realized on three sheets and printed for the first time by Salamanca in 1550. This particular example bears the address of Claude Duchet’s heirs (Duchetti) and the date of 1591.

The composition resembles Marcanova's Modena drawings, especially in the reconstruction of the Capitol and the depiction of the palaces of Cicero and Crassus. However, the details of the engraving demonstrate a more mature knowledge of ancient architecture.

The depiction of the Capitol is inspired by the ideal reconstructions of ancient Rome in Marcanova's drawings, and is influenced by the stage decorations set up for theatrical performances, which were very common in the Renaissance: "The influence they had on the artists of the following period remained quite limited. But this largely depends on the fact that the newly finished Marcanova codex found its place in the library of a convent, in which, precisely because of its preciousness, it remained accessible to few scholars. Nevertheless, ideal reconstructions of ancient Rome in the style of the Marcanova drawings are also found in later times, up to the mid-sixteenth century" (C. Hülsen).

The first edition of these three prints was engraved for the types of Antonio Salamanca (c. 1550), and the subject was quite successful, as evidenced by the 1591 reissue of Claude Duchet's Heirs. The engraving published for the Duchet heirs types actually conceals the name of Giacomo Gherardi, Claude Duchet's brother-in-law, from whom he inherited the workshop with the condition that he sign the plates Eredes Claudij Duchetij, as happens precisely in our case.

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). 

Engraving, printed on contemporary laid paper with “shiled with letter M and star” watermark, irregularly trimmed to platemark, small repairs perfectly executed on the upper part, in general in good condition. Extremely rare.

Bibliografia

C. HÜLSEN, 1907, p. 7; La Roma del Cinquecento nello Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae pp. 10, 135: Marigliani, Lo splendore di Roma nell’Arte incisoria del Cinquecento (2016), nn. II.26.