 |
| Anonymous German artist Colosseum, Rome 18th century drawing British Museum |
 |
| Anonymous German artist Colosseum, Rome 18th century drawing British Museum |
 |
| Anonymous German artist Arch of Septimus Severus, Rome 18th century drawing British Museum |
"There were thirty-six triumphal arches in Rome, and they were built in honor of those who placed foreign cities, provinces, and nations under Roman imperium. However, today there are only six still standing. That of Septimus Severus (which is at the foot of the Campidoglio) was built in his honor because he overcame the factions; carved into both ends are winged victories bearing the trophies of land and sea battles, with representations of the places stormed by him." – Andrea Palladio, Antiquities of Rome, 1554
 |
| Giuseppe Zocchi Basilica of Maxentius & Constantine, Rome 18th century drawing Morgan Library, New York |
 |
| Hubert Robert Trajan's Column, Rome 18th century drawing Ashmolean Museum, Oxford |
 |
| Giovanni Battista Piranesi Trajan's Column, Rome ca. 1760-78 etching British Museum |
Diana E.E. Kleiner offers a useful description of Trajan's Column (above) in Roman Sculpture (Yale University Press, 1992) – "The Luna marble column, which dates to 113, is made of a base, shaft, and capital, and was capped by a gilded bronze, heroically nude statue of Trajan that no longer survives but is recorded on some Trajanic coins; other Trajanic coins show it surmounted by an eagle. The statue was replaced in 1588 by one of Saint Peter. The column stands 125 feet tall, commemorating the engineering feat that had made the construction of the Forum of Trajan possible [the cutting back of the Quirinal Hill]. It was also a victory monument, because the spiral frieze that encircles the monument from base to top depicts Trajan's two Dacian campaigns; the base is decorated with reliefs that depict piles of captured arms and armor; and the column was a funerary monument, serving as the tomb of Trajan and Plotina. Two golden urns housing their remains were found in a burial chamber at the base of the column and its spiral staircase of 185 steps. Although columns were earlier used as pedestals for honorific statuary – the fora of Rome and cities like Pompeii were crowded with such monuments – there is no evidence for an earlier column with spiral frieze."
 |
| Giovanni Battista Piranesi Column of Marcus Aurelius, Rome ca. 1760-78 etching British Museum |
 |
| Anonymous Italian artist Vatican Obelisk, Rome, installed 1586 ca. 1667-70 engraving British Museum |
 |
| Jan Goeree Comparison of Vatican & Esquiline Obelisks, Rome ca. 1704 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art |
 |
| Enea Vico Column of Antoninus compared to Obelisk, Rome 1543-44 engraving Metropolitan Museum of Art |
 |
| Giovanni Battista Piranesi Trevi Fountain, Rome ca. 1760-78 etching British Museum |
 |
| Giovanni Battista Piranesi Portico of Octavia and Fish Market, Rome ca. 1760-78 etching British Muesum |
 |
| Pietro Bombelli Interior of St Peter's, Rome 1805 oil on canvas Prado |
 |
| Filippo Gagliardi Interior of St Peter's, Rome 1640 oil on canvas Prado |
"The well-known bronze baldacchino with its twisted columns – often regarded as the greatest, sometimes as the most horrific, example of Roman Baroque – was eventually erected under Bernini's direction ... The columns were cast in two foundries built specially for the purpose in 1625 behind the barracks of the Swiss Guard. They were cast in five parts – base, capital, and the column shaft in three sections – and were gilded ... For two years, summer and winter, rain or shine, sometimes through the night, Bernini directed and supervised the enormous task. He had several assistants, among them his father Pietro who was in charge of accounts and the acquisition of materials. It is interesting to note that one of the largest items in the accounts, over 3,800 ducats, was for the great quantity of "best yellow beeswax" needed for the casting, and that this cost about twice as much as the gold acquired for gilding." – Torgil Magnuson, Rome in the Age of Bernini, vol. 1 (Stockholm : Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1982)
 |
| Jean François Thérèse Chalgrin Interior of St Peter's, Rome 1763 drawing Morgan Library, New York |