Roman Ox Carts and Baggage Wagons from the Columns, 1722

This is an original antique copper engraving, uncolored, a single page plate from Montfaucon's Antiquity Explained, and Represented in Sculptures. The sheet gathers carts and wagons from carved reliefs. At the top left an ox cart and a horse cart each carry a cask. At the top right two horses draw a four wheeled cart loaded with shields and spears, a soldier walking beside them. Below, a single horse draws a cart heaped with bundles and a shield; two oxen draw an open cart with two seated figures; and two horses led by a soldier pull a cart loaded with shields and arrows. The large relief in the middle shows men loading sacks onto a cart inside a curved brick enclosure, a soldier in a helmet with a sword stepping out through a gateway, a kneeling man holding a cup and two horses beyond. At the foot two oxen pull a cart with a cask while helmeted men stand by a second cask and a pair of horses, and two small metal objects are drawn at the right.

The captions read "Antonine's Pillar" under four of the scenes, "Antoninnes Pillar" under the cart with shields and spears, "Trajan's Pillar" under the large relief, "Trajans Pillar" under the scene at the foot, and "Bonanni" under each small object. The figures are numbered 1 to 9. The corners read "Vol·IV." at foot left, "Plate 40." at foot right and "Page 123" at top right.

"Antonine's Pillar" is the column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome, which Montfaucon calls the Antonine pillar; "Trajan's Pillar" is Trajan's Column in Rome. Bernard de Montfaucon (1655 to 1741) was a French Benedictine monk and scholar whose L'Antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures appeared in Paris in 1719. This English translation by David Humphreys was printed in London by J. Tonson and J. Watts in 1722, and this plate comes from the part of volume four on carriages.

The clear animal and cart groups frame well as a single sheet.

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