The Tomb of Taddeo Pepoli, Ruler of Bologna – Antique Engraving
“Tadei Pepoli Monumentum”
Copperplate engraving from a late 17th–early 18th century antiquarian collection of Italian monuments.
Depiction of the tomb of Taddeo Pepoli (†1347), papal vicar and ruler of Bologna, shown within its elaborate Gothic architectural frame. The monument is richly decorated with pointed pinnacles, a lunette relief of religious figures, and an inscribed tablet. Pepoli’s epitaph records his election as ruler of Bologna in 1337 and his death in 1347. This engraving reflects the antiquarian interest in cataloguing the civic monuments of major Italian cities. Printed on laid paper with strong plate mark.
Texts below image:
Inscription at top: “Scriptum est ad alia parte huius sepulcri … Tadeus Pepolus a Benedicto XII. Pont. Max. pro S.R.E. conservator iustitiae populi Bononiensis. Obiit M.CCC.XLVII.”
Tablet: “Tadeus Pepolus a populo Bononiensi electus M.CCC.XXXVII.”
Caption: “Tadei Pepoli Monumentum.”
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.
