Hieronymus Cock (1517-1570)

Hieronymus Cock (1517-1570) - Palatine Ruins - 1551 / Description: Ruinarum Palatii Maioris cum parte Septizonii prospectus 3 (Palatine Ruins with Septizonium, Prospect 3), This etching shows an interior view of the Colosseum. At the time as he was publishing his first series of ruins in Antwerp, Cock was also publishing maps. The inscription "PROSPECTUS" alerts beholders that the image is a view, rather than a plan. One from a series of 24 numbered and lettered etchings +title engraved and published by Hieronymus Cock: Praecipua aliquot Romanae antiquitatis ruinarum monimenta, vivis prospectibus, ad veri imitationem affabre designata In florentiss.[ima] Antuerpia per Hiro.[nymus] Coc[k]. Mense Maio, Anno M.D.LI. Cum caesa privilegio ad VIII an. Cock journeyed to Rome between 1546-8 intending to study antique sculpture, but became fascinated with the Palatine monuments, mounting expeditions to the Colosseum and the Baths of Diocletian. The drawings for several prints, survives a.o. now in Edinburgh, and were likely executed by Cock on the spot. As the other etchings from this early series, it was etched by Cock himself in the first years after his return from Rome in 1548. As a publisher, Cock would have been well aware of the potential for ruins to appeal to collectors of art as well as those interested in Rome. The series were important and came to exert a lasting influence on landscape painting from mid-century, informing the work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Veronese.(description credit to: Christopher P. Heuer, Assistant Professor, History of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University). Early impression on double watermarked laid paper. / Dimensions: 20,50 x 28,00 cm / Condition: A very good early impression printed with good plate tone on a full sheet of laid paper with good wide margins. A few rust spots in the margins, one in the top left corner inside the plate border. Overall in an excellent condition. / Literature: Hollstein / Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts c.1450-1700 (14) --- Riggs 1977 / Hieronymus Cock, Printmaker and Publisher (43) / Medium: Etching /Circa: 1551