A RARE SET OF ELEVEN EARLY 17TH CENTURY ENGRAVINGS OF ROMAN EMPERORS AFTER TITIAN

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A RARE SET OF ELEVEN EARLY 17TH CENTURY ENGRAVINGS OF ROMAN EMPERORS AFTER TITIAN

BY AEGIDIUS SADELER AND MARCUS CHRISTOPH SADELER

A rare and historically significant set of eleven engravings depicting Roman Emperors, engraved by Aegidius Sadeler and Marcus Christoph Sadeler after the celebrated painted series by Titian.

Titian executed the original portraits circa 1537–1538 for Federico II Gonzaga, ruler of Mantua. The paintings later entered the collection of Charles I of England following their sale in 1627–1628. The series ultimately passed to Spain, where the original works were tragically destroyed in the Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire of 1734. 

As a result, these engravings constitute the primary surviving visual record of Titian’s lost imperial cycle.

Note:

  • Engravings on 16th- or 17th-century laid paper

  • Red ink collector’s stamps of Winfield Robbins.

The set comprises (11 of 12 plates, lacking XI):

  1. C. Iulius Caesar

  2. D. Oct. Augustus

  3. Tiberius Caesar

  4. C. Caesar Caligula

  5. D. Claudius Caesar

  6. Nero Claudius Caesar

  7. Sergius Galba

  8. M. Salvius Otho

  9. Aulus Vitellius

  10. D. Vespasianus Augustus

  11. Flavius Domitianu

Dimensions (Framed):
Height: 40.5 cm
Width: 29.5 cm

PRICE: £7,800

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