Roman Assault on Walls with Ladders, Trajan's Column, 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. Three numbered scenes show fighting at fortified walls. At the upper left soldiers with ornamented oval shields fight among angled brick walls, with fallen men below. At the upper right soldiers set ladders against a wall while defenders on top hurl stones down, and more defenders with shields and stones crowd the right edge. The broad lower scene shows a crowded fight before a brick wall: helmeted soldiers with oval shields bearing emblems, bearded men in cloaks with curved shields, defenders on the wall throwing stones, and the fallen lying across the ground.

All three scenes are captioned "Col, Trajana", meaning Trajan's Column in Rome. The figures are numbered 1 to 3. The corners are lettered "Page 69" at top right, "Voll IV" at foot left and "Plate 21" 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; this 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 is given over to war, and this plate belongs to its treatment of battle and siege. Montfaucon gathered figures copied from ancient monuments and engraved the name of each source beside its figure.

The packed fighting figures read strongly at a distance and suit a plain wall.

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