Aerarii Publici Rome, from a Series of 24 Depicting (Reconstructed) Buildings from Roman Antiquity

Aerarii Publici Rome, from a Series of 24 Depicting (Reconstructed) Buildings from Roman Antiquity

Anonymous, Italian, 16th century

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Perspectival depiction of the side view of a building referred to as the ‘Aerarii Publici Rome’, the public treasury of Rome. The main body of the building is circular in shape interrupted at regular intervals by semi-circular absidioles and an avant-corps on the front side (here seen on the left). The avant-corpse consists of a monumental staircase that leads up to the fourth floor of the building. A separate staircase leads to the top of the building, which is crowned by a dome with a balustrade. While the building is meant to represent the public treasury of Rome, thought to have been located on the Capitoline Hill near the Temple of Saturnus, very few architectural elements remain to indicate what the building may have looked like, and this rendition was likely created as an ekphrasis. 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 'Pinaculu Termar'.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Aerarii Publici Rome, from a Series of 24 Depicting (Reconstructed) Buildings from Roman AntiquityAerarii Publici Rome, from a Series of 24 Depicting (Reconstructed) Buildings from Roman AntiquityAerarii Publici Rome, from a Series of 24 Depicting (Reconstructed) Buildings from Roman AntiquityAerarii Publici Rome, from a Series of 24 Depicting (Reconstructed) Buildings from Roman AntiquityAerarii Publici Rome, from a Series of 24 Depicting (Reconstructed) Buildings from Roman Antiquity

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.