Divers Trophées (Weapon Trophies after the Façade of Palazzo Milesi in Rome)

Art Historical Context

This engraving captures the lively spirit of Renaissance façade decoration through a series of martial trophies originally painted by Polidoro da Caravaggio on Rome’s Palazzo Milesi around 1520. Polidoro, celebrated for his inventive grisaille work that mimicked ancient Roman reliefs, filled the palace’s exterior with cascading arrangements of helmets, shields, spears, and bound captives—motifs that evoked both classical victory celebrations and the era’s fascination with antiquity. By 1651, when Charles Errard le fils and René Lochon translated these designs into print, the original frescoes ...