Classical Allegorical Figures and Inscription on Morality – Thesaurus Italiae
Classical Allegorical Figures and Inscription
Engraving from Thesaurus Antiquitatum et Historiarum Italiae (Leiden, 1704–1725), edited by Johann Georg Graevius and published by Pieter van der Aa.
The upper register of this plate presents a series of small allegorical figures drawn from classical reliefs and cameos. Winged victories hold wreaths and palms, deities carry globes and instruments of power, and personifications appear enthroned or in dynamic poses, each a symbolic image of triumph, fortune, or virtue.
Below is a monumental inscribed tablet bearing a Latin text:
“Corripetis post tempus consili quod rogas non estum.
De vero falsa ne fiant iudice falso.
Corrigi vix tandem quod curvum est factum redibit.
Iubeo et si fecerit gaudebit semper.”
Roughly: “You reproach counsel when it is too late; what you ask is no longer fitting. From truth let not falsehoods arise by false judgment. What is crooked, once made, is scarcely corrected. He who commands, if it is done, will always rejoice.”
The plate illustrates how antiquarian engravings combined emblematic figures and moralizing inscriptions, turning classical fragments into lessons on virtue and prudence for early modern viewers.
Leiden between 1704 and 1725
Each Plate Approx 28 x 48 cm (Full Sheet Including Margins)
The Thesaurus Antiquitatum et Historiarum Italiae formed part of the monumental Thesaurus Antiquitatum et Historiarum series compiled by Johann Georg Graevius (1632–1703) and published in Leiden between 1704 and 1725. Overseen by the Dutch publisher Pieter van der Aa, the folio volumes combined texts, inscriptions, and richly engraved illustrations of monuments and antiquities from across Italy.
Many of the plates, such as those from the Monumenta Brixiana section devoted to finds from Brescia, document Roman statues, coins, inscriptions, and architectural remains. Executed in van der Aa’s workshop, the engravings often drew on earlier antiquarian sources but were presented in a format that reflected the 18th-century revival of interest in classical antiquity.
Conceived as a comprehensive resource for scholars, the Thesaurus also became a visual library for artists and thinkers of the early Neoclassical age, preserving and disseminating the legacy of ancient Italy through both scholarship and imagery.
Sheet with margins.
