Romans and Barbarians Fighting at a Palisade, Montfaucon Engraving, 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. Two broad numbered battle scenes fill the sheet. In the upper scene soldiers in segmented armor with curved rectangular shields stand at the left while helmeted soldiers close with bearded men in cloaks who carry curved blades and ornamented oval shields; trees, a timber gate and palisade at the upper right, and kneeling and fallen men fill the ground. In the lower scene archers in pointed helmets draw bows at the upper left and soldiers press forward behind oval shields marked with crescents and stars, one man carrying stones in a fold of his cloak; at the right, men with curved blades defend a timber palisade, heads showing above it, and many lie fallen on the ground.

This sheet carries no source captions. The two scenes are numbered 1 and 2. The corners are lettered "Page 68" at top right, "Vol IV" at foot left and "Plate 20" at foot right; the engraved plate number is 20.

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, and this English translation by David Humphreys, Antiquity Explained, and Represented in Sculptures, was printed in London by J. Tonson and J. Watts in 1722. Volume four deals with war, and this plate belongs to its sequence on battle. Montfaucon drew together figures copied from ancient monuments and the publications of earlier antiquaries, and where he named a source he engraved it beside the figure.

The dense, crowded figures carry well at a distance and suit a long wall.

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