Technique: Copper engraving on Laid paper

Date: c. 1610

Description: After an antique statue, in a conch: Apollo belongs to the Olympic gods and, since he was assigned to the arts, has played a major role in poetry and the fine arts since antiquity; here he is depicted with cithara, one of the most distinguished instruments of Greek antiquity. Inscribed below the image within the printing plate: "Apolo in aedibus Card. Burghesij". From: Antiquarum statuarum urbis Romae liber primus, P. Thomassin, 1610. After the publication of Giovanni Battista de Cavalieri's engraving "Antiquarum Statuarum Urbis Romae Tertius et Quartus Liber" (1594), it is considered to be the first work with independent engravings after antique statues -- personally drawn and engraved by Philippe Thomassin.

The French engraver was Jacques Callot's first teacher; he created over 430 engravings, many of them after paintings by Italian masters such as Michelangelo.

In all, the work involves the illustration of 50 ancient statues - all of them set up in conchs. 23 of them come from the Borghese Collection, 5 from the Capitoline Collection, four each from the Medici Collection and the Farnese Collection, 3 from Rome: Palazzo Apostolico, Cortile del Belvedere, Statuary Courtyard and one from the Cesarini Collection. The others are without indication of location.

On the dating: 1610 is considered the terminus post quem due to the existence of a statue from the Borghese collection from the estate of Guglielmo della Porta (sold to Giovanni Battista Borghese in 1609); terminus ante quem: 1622.

From the estate of the antiquarian Rosenthal Munich / Amsterdam.

Keywords: 17th century, Figurative, Portraits, Italy,