Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae: A Satyr and a Ram Clashing
16th century
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
mount: 16 3/4 x 11 11/16 in. (42.5 x 29.7 cm) sheet: 4 1/4 x 6 7/8 in. (10.8 x 17.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1941
Accession Number
41.72(2.156)
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the bustling world of 16th-century Rome, the *Speculum Romana Magnificentiae*— "Mirror of Roman Magnence"—emerged as a celebrated series of prints that captured the grandeur of ancient Roman antiquities for eager collectors and scholars across Europe. Engraver Marco Dente, for his meticulous reproductions of classical sculptures, crafted this dynamic scene titled *A Satyr and a Ramashing*, published by the prominent printer Antonio Salamanca. Dating to the Renaissance, when artists rediscovered and idolized Greco-Roman art, this work exemplifies the era's antiquarian passion, blending mytho...
About the Artist
Marco Dente|Antonio Salamanca · 1515–1527
Marco Dente (died 1527), also known as Marco da Ravenna, was among the most accomplished printmakers working in Rome during the High Renaissance, a period that witnessed an extraordinary flowering of engraving as both a reproductive and an independent artistic medium. Little is known of his early training, but by the second decade of the sixteenth century he had established himself in the orbit of...