La Cavalcata con le Sue Cerimonie del Pontefice Nuovo Quando Piglia il Possesso a Santo Giovanni Laterano

Etching, 1667 circa, lettered throughout. Along bottom: LA CAVALCATA CON LE SVE CERIMONIE DEL PONTEFICE NVOVO QVANDO PIGLIA / IL POSSESSO A SANTO GIOVANNI LATERANO // Gio Jacomo Rossi le Stampa in Roma Alla Pace Alinsenga, di Parigi // L.R.F.

“The coat of arms shown in the upper centre belongs to Clement IX (Giulio Rospigliosi), who was elected pope on 20 June 1667 and whose possesso procession took place on 3 July the same year, but he is not identified in the inscription. The print depicts landmarks along the route including the Castel Sant'Angelo, the Colosseum and the Campidoglio. The small scenes running along the top depict stages of a papal election; the pope arriving at the Lateran; the papal blessing from the loggia, and so on.

This impression was taken from a reworked plate that was originally made around 1655 and showed the procession of Alexander VII (Tozzi 2002, 1.13), where Alexander's portrait appears in the oval at upper centre, the space occupied here by the Rospigliosi coat of arms of Clement IX. De' Rossi reissued the plate several times, simply re-engraving the coat of arms and providing additional details to update the print (Tozzi 2002, 1.15 and 1.27).

The inscription beneath the title at lower left, L.R.F, refers to Louis Rouhier, who worked in Rome for Giovanni Giacomo de' Rossi. The print is listed in the de' Rossi publishers Indice from 1735 (Patrizia Masini in Petrucci 1982, p. 50, no. 225, and p. 117, fig. 225; Grelle lusco 1996, pp. 40 and 404 [p. 28 c.10]).”

A fine impression, printed on contemporary laid paper, paper folds perfectly repaired, otherwise good condition. Old ink French inscription on the whole plate.

Literature

McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo, series C, part I – 2, n. 642, p. 427.