Archers, Slingers and Barbarian Warriors from Trajan's Column, 1722

This is an original antique copper engraving, uncolored, a single page plate from the fourth volume of Montfaucon's Antiquity Explained, printed in London by J. Tonson and J. Watts in 1722. A large draped statue with one breast bare, a quiver of arrows at the shoulder and one foot on a crested helmet, a crescent shield beside the support, fills the upper left. Around it are two oval gems with busts, one holding an axe, a small figure with a round shield, a figure in a tall pointed headdress with a round studded shield, two views of a nude figure with a tall shield bearing a griffin, a man with a spear, and a coin with a standing figure. A tall relief at lower left shows soldiers in conical helmets and scale armor among trees above two cloaked men, one gathering stones in the fold of his cloak with a sling hanging from his hand. To the right are bearded warriors in tunics and caps with oval shields, a club and a curved blade, a group of archers behind rocks, and a group of four figures, one with a bow.

The captions read "La Chausse", "Raccolta Maffei", "Justinian Gallery", "Montfaucon", "Cosmas Ægyptius" and "Trajane Pillar" under six figures or groups, including the large relief. Trajane Pillar is Trajan's Column in Rome. The coin is lettered CAESAR ARMEN IMP and DIVI F RE EP VII. The figure numbers run from 1 to 17. The corners read "Page 20", "Vol IV" and "Plate 6".

Bernard de Montfaucon (1655 to 1741), a French Benedictine monk and scholar, published L'Antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures in Paris in 1719; David Humphreys translated it into English. The fourth volume treats war, the arms and dress of soldiers among its first subjects. Montfaucon gathered figures from monuments, coins, gems and earlier antiquaries and engraved each source's name beside its figure.

The large relief carries the sheet from across a room, while the small figures reward a closer look.

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