[Giuseppi VASI] Piazza Colonna

This antique print shows the Piazza Colonna, a piazza at the center of the Rione of Colonna in the historic heart of Rome, Italy. It is named for the marble Column of Marcus Aurelius, which has stood there since AD 193. The bronze statue of Saint Paul that crowns the column was placed in 1589, by order of Pope Sixtus V. The Roman Via Lata (now the Via del Corso) runs through the piazza’s eastern end, from south to north.

Copperplate engraving/etching on Verge type hand laid paper paper.
Sheet size: 42 x 27,5 cm. Image size: 32,3 x 20,8 cm.

This scarce original antique print originates from: ‘Delle magnificenze di Roma antica e moderna’ by Giuseppi Vasi, published in Italy 1747 – 1761.

Made by ‘Giuseppi Vasi’ after own design. Giuseppe Vasi (27 August 1710 ? 16 April 1782) was an Italian engraver and architect, best known for his vedute. Vasi was a famous man and artist up to the 1760s, when Piranesi took definitively his place. Today Giuseppe Vasi is no longer considered Piranesi’s defeated rival, but an artist with his own personality and technique. Though far from being a revolutionary, he gave a significant contribution to the Roman school of engraving.

Condition: Very good, given age. An occasional minor spot in the margins. Two small worm holes top right margin. Original middle fold as issued. General age-related toning and/or occasional minor defects from handling. Please study scan carefully.

PCOM-A03-24