Medal with Portrait of Caligula in the 6th Book, from Tibère ou les six premiers livres es Annales de Tacite Traduits par M. l'abbé de la Bléterie Professeur d'Eloquence au Collège Royal et de l'Académie Royale des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres. A Paris de l'Imprimerie Royale
published in 1768
Medium
Etching and engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 1 3/4 × 2 11/16 in. (4.4 × 6.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Estate of Ogden Codman, 1951
Accession Number
51.644.514(2)
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate etching and engraving, created by the renowned French artist Augustin de Saint-Aubin the Royal Printing House (L'Imprimerie Royale), illustrates a medal portraying the Roman emperor Calig. Tucked into the 1768 Paris edition of *ibère ou les six livres des Annales de Tacite*, translated by the esteemed scholar Abbé de la Bléterie—a professor of eloquence and of the Académie Royale Inscriptions—this small print (just 1¾ × 2⅝ inches) served as a vivid headpiece for the sixth book. It captures Caligula in profile amid classical motifs like birds and animals, evoking ancient Roman ico...
About the Artist
Augustin de Saint-Aubin|L'Imprimerie Royale · 1736–1807
Comment on works: Illustrator; Engraver