DE VESTIGITS URBIS ANTIQUAE..

Archaeological map in vertical projection with elevation of ancient monuments only. Engraved by Etienne Duperac for the publisher Antonio Lafreri. This is an elegant representation of the archaeological plan, showing in perspective elevation the main monuments.

The morphology follows that of the plan by Bufalini (1551), but for the orography, very well delineated, also that of Paciotto (1557) also edited by Lafreri. The work is described in Lafreri's catalog (no. 113), as " Roma con tutti gli edificii che hoggi si vegono in piede et che se ne può veder vestigie".

Then it is included in Stefano Duchetti's inventory of 1581 (no. 31) as "Roma con li monti dif.o Imperaiale" and finally appears in Pietro de Nobili's catalog (inv. 1585, no. 32, as "La Roma antiqua de Stefano imperiale".

The first state of the plate is distinguished by the dedication to STVDIOSO LECTORI preceded by the term TIPOGRAPHUS, - which, in the 1573 reprint, would be replaced by the signature STEPHANUS DU PERAC ARCHITET.

On the left side, center, it reads: STEPHANUS DU PERAC ARCHITET STVDIOSO LECTORI. En tibi lector nuc prodit specimen, seu perfecta urbis antquae imago ex piscis illis monumentis scriptorum veterum, et cunctis quae ad hunc usq[ue] diem superesse videntur reliquijs, et parietibus quam acuratissime delineata: quecumque oculis nostri subiecta esse possunt exigua tabella comprehendens; opus ut immensum sanè, sic nec minus antiquitatis omnigenae studiosis apprime necessarium, his recentibus formis aencis, typis exaratum impensa Antonij lafrerij Anno MDLXXIII Hoc fruere libens et Vale.

In the lower right corner, in a cartouche, is engraved a numerical legend of 89 references to notable places, spread over three columns. The inscription follows: DE VESTIGITS URBIS ANTIQUAE EPIGRAMA: Quam brevis haec presens oculis sit carta requiris Urbem dum modico continet in spatio Desine mirari: vestigia maxima claudit Quae modo ROMA potens subijcit his oculis. Antiquae monstrans Urbis signacula promptè Dum numeris certis cuncta notata signat Discuta mira solers: novanu sint prima vetustis: Anue vetusta novis nunc manifesta patent.

Orientation in the four sides in the center with the names of the cardinal points: SEPTENTRIUM, MERIDIES, ORIENS, OCIDENS, north is on the left.

Etching and engraving in very good condition. Example in the second state of three, with the dedication beginning "STEPHANUS DU PERAC ARCHITET STVDIOSO LECTORI" (see Bifolco-Ronca p. 2354).

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). 

Literature
Alberti (2009): p. 153, n. 33; Frutaz (1962): n. XXI e tav. 36; Hülsen (1915): X, pp. 58-59, nn. 51-52; Hülsen (1921): p. 142, n. 1a-b; Hülsen (1933): p. 107, X; Lincoln (2000): p. 185; Marigliani (2016): n. XI.6; Pagani (2008): pp. 15, 374; Pagani (2011): p. 133; Rubach (2016): n. 259; Scaccia Scarafoni (1939: n. 17. Alberti (2009): p. 153, n. 33; Frutaz (1962): n. XXI e tav. 36; Hülsen (1915): X, pp. 58-59, nn. 51-52; Hülsen (1921): p. 142, n. 1a-b; Hülsen (1933): p. 107, X; Lincoln (2000): p. 185; Marigliani (2016): n. XI.6; Pagani (2008): pp. 15, 374; Pagani (2011): p. 133; Rubach (2016): n. 259; Scaccia Scarafoni (1939: n. 17.