Artist: Giovanni Domenico Campiglia (1692–1768)
Medium: Antique Copper Engraving on laid paper, after the drawing, engraved by Cosmus Colombini (1700 – 1800).
Signature: Signed in the plate, in ink, lower left and right.
Dimensions: Sheet size 8 5/8 x 10 5/8 inches
Framed Dimensions: Approximately 18 x 19 inches
Framing: This piece has been professionally matted and framed using all new materials.
The Hadrianic reliefs from the Arch of Portugal (Arco di Portogallo), Rome When Sabina died in 136/137, Hadrian erected a monumental altar in her honour, probably on the northern Campus Martius to which this large marble relief may have belonged. It shows the apotheosis of Hadrian’s wife Sabina, who was deified after her death. Hadrian sits on an upright chair and watches as Sabina is carried away from her funeral pyre (ustrinum) on the back of the torch-bearing personification of Aeternitas (Eternity). The reclining semi-nude youth at Hadrian’s feet is a personification of the Field of Mars (Campus Martius).
Giovanni Domenico Campiglia (1692–1768) was an Italian painter and engraver from Florence, active under the patronage of the House of Medici. He initially trained under Tommaso Redi and Lorenzo del Moro, then in Bologna under Giovanni Gioseffo dal Sole. During his career, Campiglia was employed at Rome and Florence, painting and engraving historical subjects and portraits. Campiglia worked with Antonio Francesco Gori for over a decade on the Museum Florentium, a collection of images of all the famous artists of Florence. Campiglia’s contributions were published in 1734, which induced Pope Clement XII to bring him to Rome. There he worked with historian Giovanni Gaetano Bottari in engravings for his multi-volume Musei Capitolini. His highly finished drawings of antique and famous statues of Rome were highly prized by British tourists.