ANCIENT ROME FIRE BORGO POPE LEO IV VATICAN ~ 1882 RAPHAEL Art Print Engraving

Description: CONFLAGRATION - ROME A HIGH QUALITY STEEL ENGRAVING BOOKPLATE FROM THE 1880'S!! PERFECT FOR FRAMING AS AN ART PRINT FOR YOUR DEN !! VERY ANTIQUE & OLD WORLD LOOKING. ITEM(s) OVER 135 YEARS OLD!! The Fire in the Borgo is a painting created by the workshop of the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael between 1514 and 1517. Though it is assumed that Raphael did make the designs for the complex composition, the fresco was most likely painted by his assistant Giulio Romano. The painting was part of Raphael's commission to decorate the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. It depicts Pope Leo IV halting a fire in 847 with a benediction from a balcony in front of the Old St. Peter's Basilica. The mural lends its name to the Stanza dell'incendio del Borgo ("The Room of the Fire in the Borgo"). The Fire in the Borgo is the most complex of the four episodes in the Stanza dell'Incendio di Borgo. It is full of references to classical antiquity, to medieval architecture at the time of the affirmation of the Church, and to themes used by contemporary artists. It celebrates the intercession of Leo IV, by whose grace a fire which spread through the Borgo, a popular section of Rome near the Basilica of St Peter, was extinguished. The event depicted happened in AD 847 and is documented in the "Liber Pontificalis" (a collection of early papal biographies). Pope Leo IV managed miraculously to halt the raging fire, which was threatening an area of the city, by his benediction from the loggia of Old St Peter's. The structure of the composition is complex: two colonnades of clear classical derivation define a square. The Pope, who again bears the features of Leo X, blesses the frightened crowd from a gallery located beyond the colonnades. The façade of old St Peter's appears behind him, in the background. While those in the foreground are desperately trying to put out the fire, the female figure in yellow with her back to us is begging them to look at the only effective source of help, the pope. The term `scenographic' can appropriately be applied to this painting. Clearly, Raphael was concentrating on richer, more varied, but less harmonious compositional solutions than those of his previous paintings. The figure groups express great formal beauty, but they lack harmonious relationships and remain pure examples of episodical representation. The group in the left foreground, for example (made up of an old man on the shoulders of a young man, and a child), may be drawn from the episode of the Aeneid in which Aeneas escapes with his father, Anchises and his son, Ascanius. The woman with children in the centre of the fresco and the water carrier at right, whose clothes blow in the wind, represent similar stereotypes. The nude descending from the wall at left recalls the heroic figures of Michelangelo. Notwithstanding these limitations, the scene is highly effective and demonstrates Raphael's skill as an illustrator, although, as the critics maintain, it was executed largely by his pupils. By the early imperial period, Rome was the hub of the Roman Empire, both physically, as the center of the Italian road system, and psychologically, as the capital of the world. This vast agglomeration had adequate water supply and efficient sewers, but the overcrowding of poor people in tenements resulted in frequent fires. Emperor Augustus instituted the vigiles, or fire fighters with police powers. In addition, vehicles were not allowed in the crowded streets except at night, and legislation was passed restricting the maximum height of buildings. A disastrous fire in AD 64 nevertheless destroyed much of the center of the city. For Nero, the emperor then in power, this was an opportunity to build his palatial Golden House. SIZE: Image size in inches is 5 3/4" x 8 1/4", overall page size is 7" x 10". CONDITION: Condition is clean, no foxing, stains or tears. very beautiful and elegant. Nothing on reverse. SHIPPING:Buyers to pay shipping/handling, domestic orders receives priority mail, international orders receive regular mail. We pack properly to protect your item! An engraving is an intaglio process of printing, with the design to be produced is cut below the surface of the plate (made of copper, steel or wood), and the incised lines are filled with ink that is then transferred to paper. The portraits on our currency are good examples of engraved images. A Photogravure is an intaglio process in which the plate is produced photographically. The item(s) being sold is an image on paper made from the original master and IS NOT a block of wood or steel. IMAGE IS MUCH SHARPER AND CLEARER THAN SCAN SHOWS !! THIS IS AN CTUAL ENGRAVINGS FROM THE 1880's! NOT A REPRODUCTION!

Price: 9.99 USD

Location: New Providence, New Jersey

End Time: 2024-12-11T22:17:51.000Z

Shipping Cost: 7.95 USD