Zanetti Greek Statues, MARCIANA, Rare Antique Copper Engraving, 1743

RARE, ANTIQUE 

COPPER ENGRAVED PRINTS OF

GREEK STATUES

This 268 year old copperplate print was rescued from the book "DELLE ANTICHE STATUE GRECHE E ROMANE" by Anton Zanetti.  It was published and printed in Venice in 1743.

Anton Maria Zanetti- the elder (1679– 1767), A Venetian draughtsman, printmaker, connoisseur, and collector, was an important link between the cultural life of Venice and other European cities. His Venetian house became a lively meeting place for foreign collectors and dealers, and he befriended and patronized Venetian artists, among them Sebastiano and Marco Ricci , and Gaetano. He also travelled extensively to Paris, London and other European cities. In the late 1720s he published a series of prints, mainly after these drawings, in which he revived the technique of chiaroscuro woodcuts in three or four colors. His taste embraced both classical and Baroque; he made lively engravings after drawings by Castiglione , while his Delle Antiche Statue Greche e Romane (begun in 1725) was important to Venetian neoclassicism. The son of his cousin, Antonio Maria the younger (1706 –1778), was a distinguished critic and is said to have helped him with the statue copperplates.

The actual engravings were done by a group of well known 18^th century engravers including Giovanni Antonio Faldoni (1690-1770). Faldoni was one of the most influential engravers of the 18^th century. Other engravers that worked on the statue copperplates were Giovanni Cattini, Carlo Gregori and G. Patrini.

These copperplate prints were based on a collection of classical statues owned by the Republic of Venice in the palace of St. Mark, and other public places in Venice.  Several of the statues are in the ante chamber in the library of san Marco in Venice. The statues were donated to the city by Cardinal Domenico Grimani in the 16^th century.

The full folio copper engraving is approx. 10 1/2" x 15" (plate mark) on a linen rag paper page 17 1/2" x 23". It is in very good and clean state with natural age toning. It has a blank back. This is a guaranteed genuine antique print. A group of these would look great in an Architect's office or in a study.

This book is rare and I could not find one for sale on the Internet. I did find a report that one sold in 2009 at auction for about $3,600.

The print that is being offered is of 

"MARCIANA (ULPIA MARCIANA, SISTER OF THE ROMAN EMPEROR TRAJAN)" .

Ulpia Marciana (August 15 and 30 48 – 112/114) was the beloved elder sister of Roman Emperor Trajan. She was the eldest child born to Roman woman Marcia and the Spanish Roman senator Marcus Ulpius Traianus. Her second name Marciana she inherited from her mother’s paternal ancestors. Her birthplace is unknown.

Marciana married Gaius Salonius Matidius Patruinus. Patruinus was a wealthy man, who served as a praetor and later became a senator. He originally came from Vicetia (modern Vicenza in northern Italy). She bore Patruinus a daughter and only child Salonina Matidia, who was born on July 4, 68. Patruinus died in 78 and Marciana never remarried. After Patruinus’ death, Marciana and Matidia went to live with Trajan and his wife.

After 105, her brother awarded her with the title of Augusta. She was the first sister of a Roman Emperor to receive this title. Marciana didn't accept this at first, but her sister-in-law, the Empress Pompeia Plotina, insisted that she take the title. She thus became part of the official imperial iconography and her statue was placed together with Trajan's and Plotina's over the Arches of Trajan in Ancona. Marciana was very close to Trajan and Plotina.

Marciana would often travel with her brother and assist him in decision making. Throughout the Roman Empire, Marciana was honored with monuments and inscriptions in her name. There are two towns that Trajan founded in her honor in the Roman Empire. The first town was called Colonia Marciana Ulpia Traiana Thamugadi (modern Timgad, Algeria) and was founded around 100. This town was also named after the late parents of Marciana and Trajan. The other town was founded in 106 and was called Marcianopolis (which is now a part of modern Devnya, Bulgaria). Marciana died between 112 and 114 and was deified by the Senate at Trajan's behest.

Hill fait paraître General Natural History (deux volumes, 1748 - 1752 ), Useful Family Herbal ( 1754 ), British Herbal ( 1756 - 1757 ), Eden, or Compleat Body of Gardening ( 1757 ), Exotic Botany ( 1759 , deuxième édition 1772 ), Hortus Keweensis ( 1768 ), Flora Britanica ( 1760 ), Herbarium Britannicum ( 1769 - 1770 ), Virtues of British Herbs ( 1770 ), Decade of Curious and Elegand Trees and Plants ( 1773 ), Twenty-five New Plants, rais'd in the Royal Garden of Kew ( 1773 ). Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin (1727-1817) lui dédie en 1760 le genre Hillia de la famille des Rubiaceae . Hill issued General Natural History (two volumes, 1748 - 1752 ), Useful Family Herbal ( 1754 ), Herbal British ( 1756 - 1757 ), Eden, Gold Compleat Body of Gardening ( 1757 ) Exotic Botany ( 1759 , second edition 1772 ) , Hortus Keweensis ( 1768 ), Flora Britannica ( 1760 ), Britannicum Herbarium ( 1769 - 1770 ), Virtues of British Herbs ( 1770 ), Decade of Curious and Elegand Trees and Plants ( 1773 ), Twenty-Five New Plants, rais'd in the Royal Garden of Kew ( 1773 ). Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin (1727-1817) dedicated to him in 1760 the kind Hillier of the family of Rubiaceae .