Dissecting with Tenacity the Mythological and Allegorical Elements of Magnificent Ancient Roman Architecture

ROMANAE MAGNITUDINIS MONUMENTA.

(ARCHITECTURE - ANCIENT ROMAN WORLD). ROSSI, DOMENICO DE.

(Rome: Domenico De Rossi, 1699). 277 x 387 mm. (10 7/8 x 15 1/4"). 138 engraved leaves.

Modern dark brown calf over light brown paper boards, vellum corners, raised bands, spine panels with blind-stamped floral ornament and gilt titling. With engraved title and 137 INTRIGUING PLATES engraved by Pietro Santi Bartoli and Domenico De Rossi, including maps, topographical views, and imaginative depictions of ancient Roman temples, villas, theater, and other monuments, all with engraved explanatory text beneath the image. Cicognara 3857; Brunet IV, 1405. ◆Leaves washed and lightly pressed, but an extremely fine copy, the leaves quite bright, the engravings very rich, and the binding unworn.

This is an excellent copy of a work that is unusual because it illustrates not just the great monuments of ancient Rome (Colosseum, Pantheon, etc.), but also architectural settings and details relating to the allegorical and mythological, along with imagined visions of the military and civic greatness of the ancient city. The plates here are adaptations by the printer and Pietro Santi Bartoli of images from Giacomo Lauri's 1637 work, "Antiqua urbis splendor," (along with the addition of 17 new engravings done by Santi Bartoli). According to "Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani," Santi Bartoli (1635-1700) studied under the great Nicolas Poussin, then devoted his art to the "theme of the 'magnificence of Rome' and dissect[ed] it with a tenacity and constancy that last[ed] a lifetime." Domenico de' Rossi (1659-1730) joined the printing workshop of his adopted father Giovanni Giacomo de' Rossi in 1679, and took over the business on Giovanni's death in 1691. (ST17496-023)

Price: $3,500.00