Technique: Copper engraving on

Watermark: Flora - Leaf/leaf/tree - Lilie - Date:

Date: c. 1610

Description: After an ancient statue in a conch, reproduction of a sculpture. The singer and poet Orpheus from Greek mythology descended into the realm of the dead out of love for his wife Eurydice. Inscribed below the depiction within the printing plate: "Orpheus 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 -- 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.

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 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, Mythology, Italy,