Tenplum (sic) Iovis Ultoris, from a Series of 24 Depicting (Reconstructed) Buildings from Roman Antiquity

Perspectival depiction of a temple referred to as the ‘Tenplum [sic] Iovis Ultoris’. The building is characterized by its central plan and placed on podium with three steps which follows the shape of the building’s circular floorplan. The building has two main floors. The ground floor is marked by a portico, while the second has rectangular windows, crowned by pediments and flanked by pilasters. The building is crowned by a domed lantern which is supported by a drum decorated with C-volutes. While the Temple of Iovis Ultoris is identifiable with the Pantheon or Church of Santa Maria Rotonda still preserved in Rome today, this rendition was likely created as an ekphrasis, without knowledge of the remains of the original [The Pantheon is represented in a separate print in this series.] The present building, while fantastical in nature, bears some resemblance to Bramante’s ‘Tempietto’ and the centralized temples depicted by Raphael and Perugino in their respective versions of the ‘Sposalizio’, and in the latter artist’s ‘Delivery of the Keys’.

The print is part of a group of architectural prints depicting 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. The plates are known in several (uncatalogued) states, and have undergone minor changes over time. Several titles of buildings have been changed, and the plates have been cropped as a result of plate cracks and oxidation.

Most copper plates for this series have been engraved on both sides. This print is taken from the same plate as the 'Arcus Lutii Septimii'.