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About This Work
This topographical print depicts the sprawling remains of the ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium as they appeared in the early 17th century. The scene is labeled with letters indicating key architectural features, such as the seating areas, the starting gates, and the location of a buried obelisk. The hills of Palatine and Aventine are shown covered in crumbling masonry and Renaissance-era gardens and villas.
Aegidius Sadeler was the court engraver to Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II in Prague; this series of Roman ruins reflects the Rudolfine interest in recovering and documenting the architectural remains of classical antiquity. The inclusion of the obelisk in the description connects to the period's fascination with Egyptian monuments as symbols of ancient, prisca theologia.
Inscriptions(Latin)
Vestigij del Circo Massimo che fu cosi cognominato dalla sua grandezza perche era maggiore de gl'altri che fossero in Roma, et non fu per altro ordinato detto Circo che per celebrarui uarie maniere di giuochi et di caccie. Vi si uede anchor oggidi uestigij di tutto il sitto doue erano li gradi da siedere il populo a uedere detti giochi come ne dimostra il segno .A. nel segno. B. furono le carcere del Circo C. uie' sotto terra uno obelisco rotto ch'era in mezzo al sopra detto circo D. e' parte de l'aqua Crabra che serue oggidi ad innaquare il giardino che ui e'. E. e' il monte Aventino. F. il monte Palatino. Marco Sadeler excudit 12.
Translation
Remains of the Circus Maximus, which was so named for its greatness because it was larger than the others that were in Rome, and said Circus was ordained for no other purpose than to celebrate various manners of games and hunts therein. One may still see today the remains of the whole site where were the steps for the people to sit to watch said games, as shown by the mark A. In mark B. were the starting gates of the Circus. C. is underground a broken obelisk that was in the middle of the aforementioned circus. D. is part of the Aqua Crabra which serves today to water the garden that is there. E. is the Aventine Hill. F. the Palatine Hill. Marco Sadeler excudit 12.
Connected Texts
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
Aegidius Sadeler was the primary court engraver for Rudolf II, and this series was dedicated to the emperor as part of the cultural project of his court in Prague.
Collections
Provenance & Source
Object
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
paper
height 158 mm x width 269 mm
architectural
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 2, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.