Technique: Copper engraving on Laid paper

Watermark: Undeterminable watermark Date:

Date: c. 1610

Description: After an ancient statue, in a conch. Representation of Silenos, he was the teacher of Dionysus and companion in his processions. One of the Orphic hymns is addressed to him. Inscribed below the depiction within the printing plate: "Silenus aeneum iacentis ueteri uasi". From: Antiquarum statuarum urbis Romae liber primus, P. Thomassin, 1610. After the publication of Giovanni Battista de Cavalieri's engraving work "Antiquarum Statuarum Urbis Romae Tertius et Quartus Liber" (1594), it is considered the first work with independent engravings after antique statues -- drawn and engraved by Philippe Thomassin himself.

The French engraver was Jacques Callot's first teacher; he created more than 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 placed 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.

For 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 in 1609 to Giovanni Battista Borghese); terminus ante quem: 1622.

From the estate of the antiquarian Rosenthal Munich / Amsterdam.

Watermark: Lily

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