Prints and Principles

Most of the recent posts give details about individual prints and earlier posts discuss some of the subtle principles guiding artists in making images meaningful and memorable. For prints that are unsold, click "Items still available for sale" below. All other prints are no longer available. My contact email is oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com and my Instagram username is @printsandprinciples. I have created a separate blog to show my own work: https://printsandprinciplesjamesbrown.blogspot.com

Thursday, 4 December 2025

Antonio Tempesta, “Romans Defeated Near the Rhine”, 1612

Antonio Tempesta (1555? – 1630)
“Romans Defeated Near the Rhine”, 1612

Technical Details & Condition:
Etching on fine laid paper with small margins as published, featuring Latin letterpress text verso. The impression is generally strong, with a paler area beneath the shield of the foreground figure on the right. The sheet is in very good condition, free of tears, holes, folds, abrasions, or significant stains.

The print is plate 6 from the series, “The Batavian Revolt” (also known as “The War of the Romans Against the Batavians” and “Batavorum cum Romanis Bellum, à Corn. Tacitus”). The composition is possibly based on a comparable battle scene by Otto van Veen (also known as Venius) (1556–1629)—the teacher of Rubens—in the Rijksmuseum (A 424).

This is a lifetime impression from the first state with the Latin text verso. In the second state, the etching is heavily retouched, without text on the verso, and includes a French lettered title and number (see TIB 3501.502. p. 116).

Dimensions:
• Sheet: 20.7 x 23.1 cm
• Plate mark: 16.7 x 20.9 cm
• Image borderline: 14.7 x 20.7 cm

Plate Lettering:
• Below the image borderline at left:
“De Romeynen vergaderen opwaerts by den Ryn, den welcken Ciuilis/ te velde comt, ende wint den slagh, door dien eenighe Tonghersche vendelen tot/ hem ouer vallen, cryght oock 24. Schepen in den Ryn, die het Hollandtsch/ bootsvolck, worpende de Romeynsche soldaten ouer boort, aen syn syde brenghen.”
(The Romans gather upstream at the Rhine, when Civilis enters the field and wins the battle, because some Tongeren banners fall upon him. He also sends 24 ships into the Rhine, which the Dutch boatmen bring to his side, throwing the Roman soldiers overboard.)

• Below the image borderline at centre: (plate number in circle) “6”
• Below the image borderline at right: (translation of the Dutch text on the left in Latin):
“Haud procul, à Rheno Romanos in vnum collectos Ciuilis … et in aquam deturbando, ad Ciuilem pertrahunt.”

References:
• TIB 35.565 (Sebastian Buffa [ed.] 1984, “The Illustrated Bartsch: Italian Masters of the Sixteenth Century: Antonio Tempesta”, vol. 35, New York, Abaris Books, p. 294, cat. no. 565)
• TIB 3501.502 SI II (Eckhard Leuschner 2007, “The Illustrated Bartsch: Antonio Tempesta”, vol. 35. Part 2 [Commentary], New York, Abaris Books, p. 116, cat. no. [3501] .502 S1 II)

• See also the descriptions of this print offered by the Rijksmuseum (https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200478689) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/401435).

Price & Shipping:
AU$302 (approximately US$200.17 / €171.55 / £149.91), including worldwide express shipping. Please note that import duties and taxes are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in acquiring this spectacular early etching depicting a battle scene described by Tacitus (“Histories, IV, 16”) — a battle circa 70 CE when the Roman warship commanders were killed by their Batavian rowers, with the ships brought to their Batavian chieftain, Gaius Julius Civilis — please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I am happy to provide a secure PayPal invoice for a seamless purchase.

This print has been sold