Bilder Bernard de Montfaucon (1655-1741) – Sacrifice: Colonne Trajane – Etching (1719)

Beskrivning

"Sacrifice. Colonne Trajane". This work depicts a Roman military sacrifice known as a lustratio, as recorded on the reliefs of Trajan's Column in Rome. The scene shows the Emperor Trajan standing before an altar, surrounded by soldiers, standard-bearers carrying the signa militaria, and sacrificial animals including a bull and a horse. The architectural background suggests a fortified Roman camp or city. This etching is a double-page plate from the seminal work L'Antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures, published in Paris in 1719. This massive ten-volume series was a landmark in the field of archaeology, providing a systematic visual record of the customs, religion, and daily life of ancient civilizations based on surviving statues, coins, and monuments.

Bernard de Montfaucon was a French Benedictine monk of the Congregation of Saint Maur and a pioneering scholar who is often considered one of the founders of modern archaeology and paleography. He spent years traveling across Europe to document ancient artifacts and manuscripts, bringing a new level of empirical rigor to the study of the past. His publication L'Antiquité expliquée was a massive commercial and intellectual success, translating complex archaeological findings into accessible visual catalogs for the European public. Montfaucon’s work bridged the gap between classical philology and the physical study of antiquity, significantly influencing the Neoclassical movement and the development of museum collections in the eighteenth century.

Artist or Maker:
Bernard de Montfaucon.

Dimensions:
Approximately 42 cm x 52 cm.

Medium:
Etching.

Date:
1719.

Condition Report:
This work is in good condition overall. There may be a few minor imperfections or fox or mottled marks to be expected with age. Please review the images carefully for condition details, and feel free to contact us with any questions or for a comprehensive condition report.