A Roman Lictor with the Fasces, a Senator and a Consul, Lithograph, 1842

An original antique lithograph, hand colored in soft browns and grays, from the Galleria Universale di Tutti i Popoli del Mondo (Venice, Giuseppe Antonelli, 1842). The upper image shows a statue of a lictor on a low plinth, wreathed, in a belted tunic and a cloak fastened at the shoulder, with laced boots, carrying an axe over his left shoulder; beside him stand three bundles of rods bound with cords, two with an axe blade projecting from the side and the third with a bound blade near the top. The lower image shows two togate statues: on the left a senator on a round base, his right arm extended and holding a small roll, the toga drawn over the left shoulder; on the right a consul on a square base, his right hand held out and a scroll in his left.

The top margin is lettered "Tom. IV", "ITALIA" and "Tav. 45". Under the upper image: "Littore" (Lictor). Under the lower image: "Senatore" (Senator) and "Console" (Consul).

Lictors were the attendants of Roman magistrates and walked before them carrying the fasces, a bundle of rods tied around an axe that stood for the magistrate's power to punish. The consuls, two elected each year, were the highest regular magistrates of the Republic, and the toga was the formal dress of a Roman citizen.

The muted coloring and statuesque figures suit a classical scheme or a pair with other plates of Roman antiquities.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.