Curated by Rebecca Zorach, Professor of Art History at the University of Chicago; Coordinated by Alice Schreyer; Produced by Kerri Sancomb; Publication Designer Joan Sommers.
In 1540 Antonio Lafreri, a native of Besanon transplanted to Rome, began publishing maps and other printed images that depicted major monuments and antiquities in Rome. These images were calculated to appeal to the taste for classical antiquity that fueled the cultural event we call the Renaissance. After Lafreri published a title page in the mid-1570s, collections of these prints came to be known as the Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae, the "Mirror of Roman Magnificence." Though its prints were usually bound into albums that later libraries catalogued as books, there was never a single original edition of the Speculum. Rather, tourists and other collectors who bought prints from Lafreri made their own selections and had them individually bound. Over time, Lafreri's title page served as starting point for large and eclectic compilations, expanded and rearranged by generations of collectors. The exhibition also showcases The Speculum Romanae Magnificantiae Digital Collection created by the Library. This exhibition examines the publishing history of Lafreri's Speculum through several generations of printmakers and print publishers (who often re-published earlier images with slight changes). It also looks at Lafreri's models, competitors, and imitators, and at the collectors who, over several centuries, revisited and reinvented the Renaissance image of Rome. Along with the history of print collecting, themes include Renaissance city planning, the idea of the picturesque in landscape, Renaissance ideas of history, religious pilgrimage and tourism. The exhibition will also showcase the Library's project to make a digital image database of these prints available online.
Exhibit Publications & Documents
Catalogue 184p. (perfect bound)
Ordering Information