Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae: Column of Dilius and Obelisque Fountain
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 18 7/8 x 13 1/8 in. (48 x 33.3 cm) plate: 18 3/16 x 12 5/16 in. (46.2 x 31.2 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(1.106)
Tags
Art Historical Context
This engraving, created around 1575 and published by Antonio Lafreri, belongs to the celebrated series *Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae* (“Mirror of Roman Magnificence”). The print captures two striking Roman monuments side by side: an ancient column—identified here as the Column of Dilius—and a monumental fountain crowned by an obelisk. Rendered with precise line work typical of Renaissance engraving, the image invites viewers to study architectural details that might otherwise be seen only in person. Lafreri, a leading printmaker and publisher in sixteenth-century Rome, compiled the series ...
About the Artist
Anonymous|Antonio Lafreri
In the vast tapestry of art history, "Anonymous" stands not as a singular individual but as a collective designation for countless unidentified creators whose works have endured across millennia. These artists, spanning prehistoric cave painters to medieval illuminators and folk craftsmen, produced the foundational layers of human visual culture. Prior to the Renaissance, when individual fame emer...