Bernard de Montfaucon, Roman Military Crowns and an Arch of Three Openings, 1722, Engraving

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This is an original antique copper engraving, uncolored, a double page folding plate. At the center an arch of three … Read more This is an original antique copper engraving, uncolored, a double page folding plate. At the center an arch of three openings is drawn in elevation, with corinthian columns, a pediment over the central opening, friezes of arms and armor, spandrels heaped with shields and a high attic carved with a battle. At the upper left a small plan shows its piers. Down both sides are eight crowns, each named on the sheet: a crown set with stakes, a wreath of oak, a crown of battlements, a crown of grass, two wreaths of laurel, a wreath of myrtle and a crown set with ships' beaks. Below the left crowns is a coin with a soldier, a palm tree and a seated woman, and thirteen coins run in two rows across the foot. The crowns are lettered corona vallaris, corona civica, corona muralis, corona graminea, corona laurea, corona triumphalis, corona myrtea ovalis and corona navalis rostrata, and three carry the caption "laurus". The arch is captioned "m. Mignard", the single coin "sᵗ genevieve" with the legend ivdaia capta, and every coin at the foot "bartoli". Legends there include spqr optimo principi and victoria partica maxima. The figures are numbered up to 22. The corners read "vol:iv.", "plate 35" and "page 103". The plate comes from the fourth volume of antiquity explained, and represented in sculptures, the english translation by david humphreys of the work of bernard de montfaucon (1655 to 1741), a french benedictine monk and scholar. His l'antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures appeared in paris in 1719, and this edition was printed in london by j. Tonson and j. Watts in 1722. Volume four deals with war, including triumphs, trophies and military crowns, and triumphal arches. Montfaucon drew together figures copied from ancient monuments, coins, gems and the publications of earlier antiquaries, and engraved the name of each source beside its figure. The arch and the two columns of crowns make a symmetrical sheet. Condition: complete sheet, minor nicks along the bottom edge. Light, uneven toning, soiled along the bottom, right and top edges. Foxing and several larger brown spots across much of the margin. Folding plate with the original center fold. This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed. See less