Vestiges of the Circus Maximus, which was so named for its size because it was larger than the others in Rome, and was ordained for no other purpose than to celebrate various kinds of games and hunts. Even today, traces can still be seen of the entire site where the tiers were for the people to sit and watch the games, as shown by the mark A. At mark B were the prisons. At mark C, underground lies a broken obelisk that was in the middle of the aforementioned circus D, and part of the Aqua Crabra that serves today to water the garden that lies at E, and Mount Aventine F, and Mount Palatine. This view is taken from the series “Vestiges of the Antiquities of Rome Tivoli Pozzuolo and other places”, which Sadeler engraved, taking them from the series by the Frenchman Stefano Du Pérac, using the etching and burin technique and in a reduced format on contemporaneous laid paper. The work consists of 50 plates published by Marco Sadeler in 1606 in Prague, a very active cultural center, with the same title “Vestiges of the Antiquities of Rome” and the same descriptions as Du Pérac in Italian, without citing the inventor. Court engraver to Rudolf II, Sadeler had traveled in Germany and Italy, staying in Rome in 1593. In his work, however, also appear views of “… Tivoli, Pozzuolo and other places” which are missing in that of Du Pérac (there are thirteen new plates) in which the naturalistic aspect is emphasized. In perfect condition with ample margins, it is presented within a walnut frame.
It is one of the most important iconographic repertoires for passionate travelers of the Grand Tour.
Period: 1600
Height: 28.5 (26.5) cm
Width: 41.5 (39.5) cm
art. 3996
