Urania

Statue of the muse Urania engraved by Carlo Nolli to a design by Elia Morghen.

The work was produced to illustrate the Antichità di Ercolano Esposte, a majestic repertoire of engravings of the finds from the excavation of the ruins of Herculaneum in the Kingdom of Naples. It was published between 1757 and 1792 and copies were delivered to selected recipients throughout Europe. Despite its title, Antichità di Ercolano shows objects from all the excavations undertaken by the Borboni in the Bay of Naples. These include Pompeii, Stabia and two Herculaneum sites-Resina and Portici.

More than 20 well-known artists of the time, particularly from the Neapolitan school, such as Rocco Pozzi, Elia Morghen, C. Paderni, Lorenzo Biondo, Francesco La Vega, Giuseppe Aloja, P. Gaultieri, N. Vanni, P. Campana, L. Vanvitelli, Francesco Cepparuli, M. Gorello and Carlo Nolli, participated in the drawing and engraving of the sheets. Between 1748 and 1749 King Charles of Borbone had established a school of copperplate engraving in Portici, calling Italian and foreign artists to prepare the plates (the matrices of which are preserved in the National Archaeological Museum) for the works commissioned at the Stamperia Reale; and the same sovereign, in 1755, had established the Herculaneum Academy, composed of fifteen members, to take care of the publication and illustration of the results of the excavations. The grandiose publishing initiative of the Antiquities of Herculaneum constituted a singularly important event in the century and history of archaeological literature, making public for the first time in detail the rich artistic and documentary heritage unearthed during the excavations.

Etching, printed on contemporary laid paper, with margins, minor oxidation, otherwise in excellent condition.