Sigismundi Augusti Mantuam. Adeuntis. Profectio. Ac. Triumphis. Sigismundus Imperator Romæ Cæsarea Corona ornatus in Germaniam cum Exercitu rediens Mantuæ a Io: Francisco Gonzaga triumphali pompa exceptus, eundem, ac Liberos pepetuò Marchiones Mantuæ dixit, atque Imperialibus Aquilarum Insignibus decoravit, Ditionem Gonzagæ familiæ quingentesimum ante annu' ab Othone concessam protulit. Anno MCCCCXXXII. Opus ex Archetypo Iulii Romani a Francisco Primaticio Mantuæ in Ducali palatio quod del T. nuncupatur, Plastica, atque Anaglyphica sculptura mire elaboratum. In quo summus Artifex Traiani, atque M. Antonini Militares Profectiones, in ipsorum Columnis sculptas æmulatus, veteres illos Romanæ Militiæ mores: Arma, habitus, as disciplinam expressit, novasque simul sequioris Imperii Germanici similitudines retulit: Pictoribus, Sculptoribus, atque eruditæ Antiquitatis Studiosis, cunctisque præclaras, atque expolitas artes professis perutile ac iucundum, cum notis Io: Petri Bellorii, a Petro Sancti Bartoli ex veteri Exemplari traductum, ærique incisum.
RA Collection: Book
Record number
03/7305
Imprint
Cura, sumptibus, ac Typis Io: Iacobi de Rubeis., Romæ ad Templum Sanctæ Mariæ de Pace.: (MDCLXXX.)
Physical Description
26 pl. (incl. title-pl. and dedic.); 306×460 mm. (Oblong format).
Responsibility Note
Plates 1 and 2 (t.-pl. and dedic.) are unsigned; all others are signed as designed by Iulius Romanus and engraved by Petrus Sanctus Bartolus.
Thirteen plates carry the publisher's imprint (pl. 3, 10-12, 14-16, 18-19, 23-26).
The work is dedicated to the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I by Angelus Conticellus.
References
S. Massari, Giulio Romano pinxit et delineavit (1993), nos. 237-62, p.247-71 [describing the versions of both Bartoli and Bouzonnet-Stella].
A survey of pageantry was B. Holme, Princely feasts and festivals: five centuries (1988).
Summary Note
No publication-date is given on the title-plate, but the dedication carries the date of 1680.
The emperor Sigismund's entry into Mantua in 1432 was represented in stucco between 1526 and 1532 in the Sala degli Stucchi of the Palazzo del Te, probably by Primaticcio, possibly working with Giulio Romano. As the title of the book declares, the style of the stucchi directly imitated the bas-reliefs of the columns of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius. Primaticcio went on to develop what became known as the 'Fontainebleau School' in France, in which stucco relief and mannerist painting are combined.
For the engraving of these plates, dedicated in 1680 to the emperor Leopold I, the choice of Bartoli was very fitting, as he was already well-known as an engraver of ancient Roman monuments.
Another version of the subject was engraved by Antoinette Bouzonnet-Stella (1675); and a version of this (ca. 1787?) was also acquired by the Royal Academy.
Provenance
Acquired between 1769 and 1802. Recorded in A Catalogue Of The Library In The Royal Academy, London (1802).
Binding Note
Contemporary vellum; spine lettered, 'Iulio Roman'. Bound with Giove Che Fulmina Li Giganti Rapresentato In Pittura Da Giulio Romano (n.d.).