Second View of the Colosseum
probably 1550
Medium
etching on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed to plate mark): 23.4 × 33.9 cm (9 3/16 × 13 3/8 in.) mount: 31.9 × 45 cm (12 9/16 × 17 11/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
Accession Number
1994.80.4
Art Historical Context
**Second View of the Colosse** by Hieronymus Cock, created around 1550, captures the majestic ruins of Rome's iconic amphitheater through the innovative medium of etching on laid paper. This intimate sheet, measuring about 23.4 × 33.9 cm, belongs to a series of panoramic views that Cock, a leading Flemish printmaker from Antwerp, produced to bring the grandeur of ancient Rome to Northern European audiences. Though Cock never visited Italy himself, he drew from on-site sketches by artists like Maarten van Heemskerck, transforming them into precise, atmospheric etchings that evoke the weathered ...
About the Artist
Hieronymus Cock · 1510–1570
Hieronymus Cock, born Hieronymus Wellens de Cock in Antwerp in 1518, emerged from a distinguished artistic lineage; his father, Jan Wellens de Cock, and brother, Matthys Cock, were both accomplished painters and draftsmen. Admitted as a master painter to Antwerp's Guild of Saint Luke in 1545, he honed his skills in the vibrant Netherlandish tradition before traveling to Rome from 1546 to 1547, whe...