Italy, Rome, Via Appia, Circus of Maxentius (Caracalla), Tomb of Caecilia Metella Giacomo Lauro, 1625, Circi Antonini Caracallae

View of The Circus of Caracalla (now known as Circus of Maxentius) . Circuses in Rome were long oval shaped structures built for chariot racing. The circus evolved from a simple track set near a hillside for seating into a large stadium structure with seating and a central divider.

The Circus of Maxentius (known until the 19th century as the Circus of Caracalla) is part of a complex of buildings erected between AD 306 and 312 by emperor Maxentius on the Via Appia. The Circus is the best preserved of all Roman circuses, and is second only in size to the Circus Maximus in Rome. The only games recorded at the circus were its inaugural ones and may have been held in honor of Maxentius' son Valerius Romulus, who died in AD 309 at a very young age. He is thought to have been interred in the adjacent cylindrical tomb (tomb of Romulus). The complex was probably never used after the death of Maxentius in 312 AD.

On the background the cilindrical Tomb of Caecilia Metella (Italian: Mausoleo di Cecilia Metella) is a mausoleum located just outside Rome at the three mile marker of the Via Appia. It was built during the 1st century BC to honor Caecilia Metella, who was the daughter of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus, a consul in 69 BC, and the wife of Marcus Licinius Crassus who served under Julius Caesar and was the son of the famous triumvir with the same name, Marcus Licinius Crassus.

The Tomb of Caecilia is one of the most well known and well preserved monuments along the Via Appia and a popular tourist site.

The engraving is taken from ´Splendore dell antica e moderna Roma ...´, published in Rome in 1624 (first edition started being published in parts from 1612 onwards). The view is explained in Latin text below the engraving.

Giacomo Lauro (or Jacobus Laurus) was an engraver, printer and print publisher. Active in Rome from 1583, when described as 'intagliatori di rame' (Ashby p.362). 17 March 1598 he applied for and was granted a 10-year papal privilege for an unspecified number of unnamed religious prints (Leuschner). Giacomo Lauro’s place and date of birth are unknown, although his signature “Jacobus Laurus Romanus” seems to indicate that the artist was proudly born Roman.

Lauro's earliest dated prints are of 1582 (Martyrdom of St Catherine), and carry the address of C. Duchetti (Ashby, 1926-27, p.362). He also worked for Panzera, c.1589 (Bertolotti). From 1590 he tried to establish himself as a publisher of his own work . He acquired and restored old plates, published copies of classic prints as Marcantonio's St Paul preaching (B.XIV.50.44). He accepted commissions, as the map of Rocca Contrada, 1594 (Anselmi). He probably acquired plates from Jacob Matham which he published in 1598 (Widerkehr). His 'Antiquae Urbis Splendor' was published in parts from 1612. In the volumes issued in 1614 and 1615 Lauro refers to having worked on the study of antiquity for 28 years which would mean that he began this work about 1586 (see Ashby, 1926-27, p.362).

Excellent. Never folded. Strong paper. Ample margins.

Image 18x23cm, page 22x32cm