Enea Vico
Vignettes Depicting Animals from Ancient Wall Paintings1547

Not on view

No image

Artist or Maker: Enea Vico
Italy, Parma, 1523-1567
Printed by: Antoine Lafréry
France, Orgelet, 1512-1577, active Rome
Title: Vignettes Depicting Animals from Ancient Wall Paintings
Place Made: Italy
Date Made: 1547
Medium: Engraving
Dimensions: Sheet: 12 3/8 × 17 5/8 in. (31.43 × 44.77 cm) Image: 11 5/8 × 16 3/4 in. (29.53 × 42.55 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Irene Salinger in memory of her father, Adolph Stern
Accession Number: 54.70.10
Classification: Prints
Collecting Area: Prints and Drawings
Curatorial Notes: A variety of animals found in ancient frescoes appear in this print, which is part of a large series of engravings documenting the city of Rome called the Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae, or the “Mirror of Roman Magnificence.” Meant to be bought individually and bound in customizable volumes, prints in the Speculum were purchased as souvenirs, allowing collectors to possess the ancient sites of the city. While the Latin inscription describes how these animals are “from an ancient heated room discovered near the game preserve in the year 1547,” the location of this ancient Roman site and the date of its discovery are unknown. Here, Vico has brought together an assemblage of exotic creatures, probably based on individual compositions by artists in the circle of Raphael, like Giulio Romano, who made drawings after ancient Roman decoration. The functions of this print are manifold, as it acts at once as a means to catalogue non-European animals, record ancient Roman art history, and circulate knowledge about the classical world.

Claire Spadafora Baes

2023
Selected Bibliography: Pal, Pratapaditya. Elephants and Ivories in South Asia. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1981.
Zumaya, Diva. The World Made Wondrous: the Dutch Collector's Cabinet and the Politics of Possession. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2023.

Enea Vico
Vignettes Depicting Animals from Ancient Wall Paintings1547

Not on view

No image

Artist or Maker: Enea Vico
Italy, Parma, 1523-1567
Printed by: Antoine Lafréry
France, Orgelet, 1512-1577, active Rome
Title: Vignettes Depicting Animals from Ancient Wall Paintings
Place Made: Italy
Date Made: 1547
Medium: Engraving
Dimensions: Sheet: 12 3/8 × 17 5/8 in. (31.43 × 44.77 cm) Image: 11 5/8 × 16 3/4 in. (29.53 × 42.55 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Irene Salinger in memory of her father, Adolph Stern
Accession Number: 54.70.10
Classification: Prints
Collecting Area: Prints and Drawings
Curatorial Notes: A variety of animals found in ancient frescoes appear in this print, which is part of a large series of engravings documenting the city of Rome called the Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae, or the “Mirror of Roman Magnificence.” Meant to be bought individually and bound in customizable volumes, prints in the Speculum were purchased as souvenirs, allowing collectors to possess the ancient sites of the city. While the Latin inscription describes how these animals are “from an ancient heated room discovered near the game preserve in the year 1547,” the location of this ancient Roman site and the date of its discovery are unknown. Here, Vico has brought together an assemblage of exotic creatures, probably based on individual compositions by artists in the circle of Raphael, like Giulio Romano, who made drawings after ancient Roman decoration. The functions of this print are manifold, as it acts at once as a means to catalogue non-European animals, record ancient Roman art history, and circulate knowledge about the classical world.

Claire Spadafora Baes

2023
Selected Bibliography: Pal, Pratapaditya. Elephants and Ivories in South Asia. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1981.
Zumaya, Diva. The World Made Wondrous: the Dutch Collector's Cabinet and the Politics of Possession. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2023.