Sign In

- Or use -
Forgot Password Create Account
Description

Nearly complete set of eleven engravings of Roman Emperors by Aegidius Sadeler after paintings by Titian.

Titian painted the series of Roman emperors around 1537-38 for Duke Federigo Gonzaga, the ruler of Mantua. In 1627-28, the Mantuan government sold this collection to Charles I of England. Ultimately, the paintings ended up in Spain and were destroyed in a fire in 1734. The prints by Aegidius Sadeler and Marcus Sadeler remain as the primary visual records of the original paintings.

The set includes:

  1. C. Iulius Caesar.
  2. D. Oct. Augusts.
  3. Tiberius Caesar.
  4. C. Caesar Caligula.
  5. D. Claudius Caesar.
  6. Nero Claudius Caesar.
  7. Sergius Galba.
  8. M. Sylvius Otho.
  9. Aullus Vitellius.
  10. D. Vespasianus Augustus.
  11. [Lacking]
  12. Flavius Domitianus.

Rarity

Individual prints are scarce. Complete sets are very rare. The present set lacks only one portrait. Most large groups lack more than half of the portraits.

Condition Description
Set of 11 (of 12, lacking XI) engravings on 16th- or 17th-century laid paper. Margins vary. A few somewhat more toned. Red ink collector stamps of Winfield Robbins.