Roma Aeterna

33. Temple of Jupiter Stator Domenico Cunego after Charles Louis Clérisseau Etching with engraving [Rome, 1760-1767] Image 404 x 573 mm, Plate 460 x 596 mm, Sheet 526 x 715 mm Inscription reads: ‘View of the three columns that remain of this temple having on the left the church of St. Maria Liberatrice with a part of the Pallatin Hill now called the Farnese Gardens.’

French translation of title and inscription below image to right.

Plate 1 from Cunego’s Views of Antique Buildings and Famous Ruins in Italy, depicting a view of the Roman forum, with figures in the left foreground unloading a cart, and a running fountain to the right. As described in the inscription, the three columns supporting a ruined entablature were previously thought to be the remains of the temple of Jupiter Stator, though are in fact part of the Temple of the Dioscuri. In the background, the church of St Mary Liberator is depicted at centre, with the terrace of the Farnese Gardens on the Palatine to the left.

The Temple of the Dioscuri was dedicated to the divine twins Castor and Pollux following a Roman victory at the Battle of Lake Regillus in the early fifth century BC. The temple was used by the Roman Senate, and went through a number of iterations, being rebuilt and remodelled a number of times. The final iteration was built by Tiberius and dedicated in AD 6, following the destruction of the previous building in the fire of 14 BC. The three surviving columns were conserved in the 1760s, and meticulously studied and measured by Piranesi at this time. The monument was one of the most picturesque ruins in the Forum, with the British architect George Dance the Younger declaring it the finest example of the Corinthian order ‘perhaps in the whole world.’

Condition: Good clean impression. Old repair to split centrefold to top half of image and bottom of plate.

[36808] £850 40