Trajan's Pillar, Column of Trajan, Rome, Antique Engraving, circa 1820

About this sheet

This antique engraving of Trajan's Pillar shows Trajan's Column standing in its square in Rome with a domed church and an obelisk nearby, an early nineteenth century London line engraving of one of the great monuments of ancient Rome. The plate is lettered "Trajan's Pillar" and carries no publisher's imprint.

Trajan's Column was dedicated in the year 113 to commemorate the Emperor Trajan's victories in the Dacian Wars. Its shaft is wrapped by a continuous spiral relief of the campaigns, and from the late sixteenth century it has been crowned by a statue of Saint Peter. Beside it rise the domed churches of the Forum of Trajan, and the engraver has set the column in a busy square that conveys its scale against the surrounding buildings. To British readers of the early nineteenth century the column stood for Roman military glory and for the classical learning that underpinned their own education.

The plate bears no imprint or date. It is an early nineteenth century London engraving, circa 1815 to 1830, in the style of the Kelly plates in this group, and is probably from a popular illustrated work on Italy or on the wonders of the world issued in parts. No specific book is claimed. The print is uncoloured and engraved in line, with careful work in the spiral relief and the architecture.

This Trajan's Column engraving will appeal to collectors of Roman antiquities, architectural prints and Grand Tour subjects. It would suit a hallway, study or library, framed in black or gilt with a clean white mount, and it pairs naturally with the view of Rome from the same folio.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning and a few tiny specks in the margins; the image is clean and strong.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.