Half of an Arch [Porta Antonae] from the series 'Ruinarum variarum fabricarum delineationes pictoribus caeterisque id genus artificibus multum utiles'

Monogrammist G.A. & the Caltrop|Lambert Suavius|Gerard de Jode

1554 · Etching · Drawings and Prints

Perspectival depiction of the right half of a triumphal arch, said to be the so-called ‘Porta Antonae’, set in a stylized landscape. The arch appears to have been stripped from all its ornaments and relief decorations, aside from the Ionic or Composite pillars on the corners of the piers. The arch is crowned by a tall attica, which supports a pediment placed over the central arch. While the proportions are incorrect, the overall composition of the arch, aside from the tympanum, resembles the arch of Trajan in Benevento, Italy. This print and several others in this series published by Gerard de Jode were copied after a group of Italian architectural prints, previously attriputed to the Master G. A. with the Caltrop, and first published in Rome between 1530 and 1550. The prints depict buildings from Roman Antiquity, ranging from triumphal arches to bath houses, temples and palaces in Italy, France and Spain. Some of the buildings have been artificially reconstructed based on Medieval descriptions, while others are depicted in their ruinous states.

Artist

Monogrammist G.A. & the Caltrop|Lambert Suavius|Gerard de Jode

Date

1554

Medium

Etching

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1948