The Vatican in Rome, Antique Panoramic View over the Rooftops, circa 1850

This is a view of the Vatican in Rome, an original antique steel engraving, uncolored, circa 1850. The caption reads DER VATICAN IN ROM, German for the Vatican in Rome.

The dome of Saint Peter's with its two smaller cupolas and the long ranges of the Vatican palace stand at the left, beneath a great bank of white cloud that fills the right half of the sky. A long wall and a block of buildings run along the ridge at the right. Dark cypresses rise at the center, and the foreground is a jumble of tiled roofs, chimneys and house walls, with a small church with a cupola and a tree at the right.

No artist or engraver is named under the image. Below the caption the plate carries the house imprint, Aus d. Kunstanst. d. Bibl. Inst. in Hildbh. at the lower left and Eigenthum d. Verleger at the lower right. The first is the art works of the Bibliographisches Institut in Hildburghausen, the second reads "property of the publishers." The plate number DXXVII is engraved at the top right.

The sheet comes from a dealer's album rather than from a bound set. Its imprint is that of Meyer's Universum, a serial collection of engraved views with descriptive text, published by Joseph Meyer's Bibliographisches Institut at Hildburghausen from 1833, its plates engraved on steel. Saint Peter's Basilica stands beside the Apostolic Palace on the Vatican Hill, west of the Tiber.

Marked handling soiling along the bottom and top edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. Corners and edges are not shown by this scan. Clean, even paper tone in the margin. One larger brown mark.

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