Artist: Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (Italian, 1598-1680) Bernini was the outstanding artist of the Italian Baroque and probably its greatest formative influence.
Engraver: Louis Desplaces (French, 1682-1739), full name Philippe Louis Campagnon Desplaces.
Title: Marcus Curtius, on horseback; after the statue executed by Bernini for Louis XIV.
Titled, Dated, and Signed in plate: Marcus Curtius. Statue équestre d'un seul bloc de marbre, par le Chevalier Jean Laurent Bernin. Qui est dans les Jardins de Versailles, gravée par Louis Desplacex [numbered on plate, lower right] '117'.
Dimensions: Platemark 18" x 12 3/4", Sheet 21 1/8" x 16".
Edition: Joseph Antoine de Crozat, Marquis de Tugny. Recueil d'Estampes d'après les plus beaux Tableaux et d'après les plus beaux Desseins qui sont en France dans le Cabinet du Roy, dans celuy de Monseigneur le Duc d'Orléans, & dans d'autres Cabinets, Tome Second. Paris, 1742.
Date: 1742.
Materials and Techniques: Etching on laid paper.
Watermark: yes.
Provenance: The Estate of George "Yorgo" Demetrakopoulos; professor, assistant director of the Medieval Institute, and assistant to the dean at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, from 1965-2000.
Condition: Left edge has cuts and holes from a binding cord. Wear to edges. The signs of aging are appropriate for the time. A detailed condition report is available on demand.
Part of: [Known as the Cabinet de Crozat or Recueil de Crozat, Volume 2, No. 117].
Museums and Libraries: The British Museum 1855,0609.198.
Art Movements, Periods & Schools: French School XVIII C. Italian School XVII C.
Note:
- The statue was originally meant to represent Louis XIV, but as the likeness was considered not good enough, it was turned into an effigy of Marcus Curtius.
A legendary hero of ancient Rome; according to legend, in 362 BC a deep chasm opened in the Roman Forum, the seers declared that the pit would never close until Rome's most valuable possession was thrown into it; claiming that nothing was more precious than a brave citizen, Curtius leaped, fully armed on horseback, into the chasm, which immediately closed; the spot was afterward covered by a pond, known as the Lacus Curtius, which was dry by the 1st century BC.
- This entry incorporates text from the catalog entry of a similar item from the British Museum collection.