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Composite capital

Engraving
ca. 1573 (published)
Artist/Maker
Lafrery (publisher)
Monogrammist G.A. (engraver)
Place of origin
Rome (published)

Antonio Lafrery published this print as one in a set of 30 images. All the prints show examples of elements of ancient Roman architecture. Lafrery was a very successful Italian printer and print dealer. In 1573, he was the first person anywhere in Europe to have the idea of producing a catalogue of the prints he had for sale. His catalogue gives a description of his sets of architectural prints. It reads, 'Books of cornices, capitals and bases after the antique ruins that you can daily discover in Rome'.

Object details

Category
Ornament Prints
Object type
Engraving
TitleComposite capital (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Engraving on paper
Printing Ink
Engraving
Brief description
Plates (30) on fifteen sheets of cornices, capitals and bases of Antique buildings in Rome. Italian, c. 1573
Physical description
Engraving
Dimensions
  • Size of plate height: 21.9cm
  • Size of plate width: 14.3cm
Style
Renaissance
Marks and inscriptions
'G.A.' with a caltrop. (Monogram)
Subject depicted
Capitals
Summary
Antonio Lafrery published this print as one in a set of 30 images. All the prints show examples of elements of ancient Roman architecture. Lafrery was a very successful Italian printer and print dealer. In 1573, he was the first person anywhere in Europe to have the idea of producing a catalogue of the prints he had for sale. His catalogue gives a description of his sets of architectural prints. It reads, 'Books of cornices, capitals and bases after the antique ruins that you can daily discover in Rome'.
Bibliographic references
  • Miller, E., 16th-century Italian ornament prints in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1999, p. 184 (cat. 50a).
  • Miller, E., 16th-century Italian ornament prints in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1999, pp. 126-31 (cat. 39).
  • Elizabeth Miller, 'Antonio Lafreri's architecture and ornament volumes: Crossing the boundary between books and volumes of prints in late sixteenth-century Rome', Renaissance Studies, 33 (2019), 761- 788
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.1994-1899

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Record createdNovember 18, 2003
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O85850/composite-capital-engraving-lafrery/
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