Antique Prints to go with my Ancient Coins

I've recently purchased 3 antique lithograph prints of Ancient Roman topics/scenes to eventually hang in a den or something (I don't have a den yet) to coordinate with my interest in ancient Roman history. Here are the 3 prints and their corresponding descriptions/information.

Marble statue of goddess Minerva in the Torlonia Museum in Rome (1876)

Print Description: Antique print of original drawing of the statue by Niccola Sanesi.



View of Roman Villa, Italy (1882)

Print Description: The description and the rendering in the engraving is based on the villa of Pliny the Younger [Pliny the Younger (62-113). he was a Roman official, whose letters give a valuable description of life in the 1st century AD. His full Latin name was Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus. He was a nephew of Pliny the Elder, by whom he was adopted and whose name he took in 79; his name was originally Publius Caecilius Secundus.] The nature of the ground, as well as the intentions and wishes of the owner, gave rise to a rich, varied, and even fantastic exterior design ; in which respect the villa stood in marked contrast to the city-house. Here rooms were wanted from which the prospect could be enjoyed and the house, instead of closing itself against the outer world, opened itself to it. For the summer were needed spa ious cool apartments, for the winter sunny warmth ; protection must be made against storm and rain; the sound of the waves, or the noise of a swarm of busy servants, must be excluded. Here, the sloping ground required a terraced construction ; there walls and dykes were carried far out into the sea, with colonnades for promenading, and rooms or sheltered niches where one might rest pleasantly on soft cushions and hear the waves lapping against the walls and among the arches. This was one of the luxuries enjoyed by the younger Pliny in his sea-side villa at Ostium, of which he has left so pleasing a description.

In the interior stood the hall, and the courts surrounded with columns. These courts or galleries were often arranged with a southern aspect for the winter. In those for summer use, the columns were covered with ivy, and festooned with vines, while running water flowed through marble channels, or sprang from jets and fountains surrounded with flowers. Running water plashed and rippled through the cool dining-room and the apartments for repose in the heat of the day. This abundance of water, which was conveyed from springs and brooks, was one of the most cherished luxuries; it was brought in pipes and channels through house and garden, it supplied the baths, hot, cold, or tepid, and leaped in jets, or poured in fountains wherever it could add a grace.

To the villa belonged a garden. The Romans had no great variety of flowers; the pro- fusion of exotic plants which adorn modern gardens was unknown to them ; and they were for the most part content with what Italy afforded, roses and violets, narcissuses, hyacinths, and lilies. But they took great delight in them, especially in roses and violets, the favorite flowers for wreaths ; and used them all the year to adorn the house, the banquet, the altar and the tomb. The rose they loved passionately ; they had not many varieties, but these were in daily demand; and if their own gardens and conservatories, and the famous rose-gardens of Praeneste, Paestum, and Malta, did not yield a sufficient abundance, they brought roses from Egypt. Beside the flower-beds, upon terraces, slopes, or the level ground, were spaces of soft grassy sward, bordered by trimmed hedges of beech. The Romans had learned the art of giving to the beech, the yew, and the cypress, artificial forms by skilled trimming and training; and the visitor saw here globes and pyramids, there letters of the alphabet, or a whole name: or ships, or figures of animals, such as a bear biting a serpent : a vitiated taste harmonizing well With other monstrosities of the imperial time. But this false taste did not rule the garden ; it was only a bit of sportiveness, a caprice, which their horticulture tolerated without growing itself fantastic.



Dancers Entertain during Summer Party in Villa of Roman Consul Lucullus (1888)

Print Description: In 74, when Lucullus was consul, the Roman province of Bithynia was invaded by Mithradates, king of Pontus. Lucullus was appointed governor of Cilicia and later of Asia and commanded Roman forces in the war against Mithradates. With five legions he drove his opponent from Cyzicus in the winter of 74-73 and defeated him at Cabira in 72. By 70 the war seemed to be over. Lucullus' able financial administration alleviated the crisis caused by the war in the province of Asia and earned him the hostility of those Roman businessmen whose profits were cut by his reforms on behalf of the provincials. Mithradates then gained the alliance of his son-in-law, Tigranes, king of Armenia. Lucullus attacked Armenia, defeated Tigranes, and captured his capital, Tigranocerta, in 69. Three mutinies by Lucullus' troops in 68-67, however, forced him to curtail operations. Mithradates recovered much of his lost territory, and Lucullus' enemies carried legislation (Lex Manilia) requiring him to hand over his command to Gnaeus Pompey. Lucullus was prevented from celebrating his triumph at Rome until 63. Afterward he retired to enjoy a life of great extravagance. The adjective Lucullan, meaning "luxurious," derives from his name.


This might become another collection area as a counterpart to ancient coin collecting.

 

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Excellent...love all three.

 

Nice advance planning and optimism ! They are beautiful prints. I particularly like the Roman villa.

 

Beautiful prints, @Justin Lee ! I can't take my eyes off of that third one it's mesmerizing. Most of us are amazingly fortunate to be living far more comfortable, entertaining, informed, plentiful, and luxurious lifestyles than the wealthiest emperors of two thousand years ago.

 

Those are very nice. How big are they? They'd look good framed.

 

Nice, I like the last one especially.

 

They're nice prints I ordered one also

 

They are 15" x 10.5", 14" x 10", and 16" x 10", respectfully.

I was thinking they'd look good matted and framed, like DR's example.

 

Definitely

 

They are so visually dense, that you find little things pop out as you look through them longer.

 

these are, to me, very collectible. i got this (Heck/Winkler-mid1800's) when i 1st started collecting coins and artifacts

 

Very nice prints @Justin Lee I like them all. Good luck with getting a den, I really miss the one I had. Mrs. TheRed gave me the print below as a birthday gift one year. After I lost my den it was moved to a bathroom wall. The print is from a 19th century book on English hammered coins and features those of Edward I-III.

 

That is your Throne Room

 

..you know the Mona Lisa hung in one for many years too

 

Where it belonged IMO. Had the opportunity to see it at the Louvre awhile ago. Was not at all impressed. There were so many more pieces there that were far better than it. Oh well...To each their own I guess lol.

 

I appreciate and respect Leonardo's work (all facets of it), but as paintings go, I'm enthralled with Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring (along with his other "daily life" paintings).

Oh, and most impressionists.

 

Oooh I really like it, @TheRed!!

 

it's hard to beat the Dutch Masters..

 

Speaking of impressionists, my wife -then girlfriend- touched a Monet at an exhibition in Boston many many years ago. I was aghast. She was like whatever, it needed to be touched. Still gets me to this day.