Roman Army at a Tribunal and a Bridge of Boats, Montfaucon, 1722

This is an original antique copper engraving, uncolored, a double page folding plate from Montfaucon's Antiquity Explained, and Represented in Sculptures, printed in London by J. Tonson and J. Watts in 1722. It holds three numbered scenes. In the large upper scene five cloaked men stand on a raised platform beside standards topped with open hands and medallions, with soldiers in segmented armor gathered below and horsemen with spears riding off to the right. A small panel at the upper left shows soldiers at a battlemented wall above rough ground. The broad lower band shows boats moored side by side at the water's edge on the left, soldiers with standards coming out of an arched gateway, a man in a cuirass and cloak at the center, rows of soldiers behind a palisade, men leading saddled horses, and a round tower at the right.

The captions are "Col. Antonine" under the upper scene and "Col. Trajane" under the small upper panel and under the lower band. "Col. Antonine" is the column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome, which Montfaucon calls the Antonine pillar; "Col. Trajane" is Trajan's Column in Rome. The figures are numbered 1 to 3. The sheet is lettered "Page 66" at top right, "Vol IV" at foot left and "Plate 17" at foot right.

Bernard de Montfaucon (1655 to 1741) was a French Benedictine monk and scholar. His L'Antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures appeared in Paris in 1719; the English translation by David Humphreys, Antiquity Explained, and Represented in Sculptures, was printed in London by J. Tonson and J. Watts in 1722. The fourth volume treats war, from the dress and arms of the soldier through the camp and the march, and this plate belongs to that part of the work. Montfaucon set figures copied from ancient monuments side by side and engraved the name of each source beside its figure.

The plate sets scenes from two monuments together on one sheet, and the long lower band suits a wide frame.

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