Print depicting ruins of classical architecture, engraving by Virgil Solis, Germany (Nuremberg), about 1560

Print depicting an imaginary scene of ancient Roman ruins, engraving on paper.

From the Lanna Collection.

In these imaginary scenes artists draw and measure the ruins. One view shows the type of buried building in which painted grotesque wall and ceiling decorations were found. These are reversed copies from a set engraved by Jacques Androuet Ducerceau after Léonard Thiry, published in 1550.
Lana Collection

This print belongs to a set of thirteen engravings by Virgil Solis which is referred to as ‘the little book of architecture ruins’ in The Illustrated Bartsch (vol. 19, part 1, pp. 161-167; B. 352a and B. 354 missing in the V&A collections). Solis actually copied Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau’s Duodecim Fragmenta structurae veteris published in 1550 in Orleans. Both Du Cerceau and Solis praise Léonard Thiry, the artist who made the original drawings. Thiry was a Flemish artist who worked in Fontainebleau with Fiorentino Rosso. It is not established whether he went to Rome; he could very well have been inspired by the many prints showing views of Rome that circulated at the time. The antique theme, and the taste for views of ruins were indeed widespread in the 16th century.

Solis was a prolific printmaker, whose Nuremberg workshop produced ornament prints intended for furniture decoration, jewellery and so on, as well as biblical illustrations. Solis borrowed from German, Italian and French engravers. In the first print (The Illustrated Bartsch, p. 161, no. 352a), he explains that he has copied this set because it was unavailable in Germany: ' I have realized that it would be for the common good and that of all art lovers, if I were to publish it [...], so that our country would be as fortunate as the Italians and the French'.

Reversed copy from a set engraved by Jacques Androuet Ducerceau after Léonard Thiry, published in 1550.

This print is based on an original design by Léonard Thiry, and it is a reverse copy by Virgil Solis after Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau's prints from 1550. Solis was a prolific printmaker, whose workshop produced ornament prints intended for furniture decoration, jewellery and so on, as well as biblical illustrations. Solis borrowed from German and Italian engravers; this is an example of him borrowing from Du Cerceau who was French. Solis produced popular prints, and the antique theme in this print is typical of the time.

E.2863-1910