Roman Horsemen in Scale Armor, Trajan's Column and Theodosian Pillar, 1722

This is an original antique copper engraving, uncolored, a single page plate from the fourth volume of Montfaucon's Antiquity Explained, printed in London by J. Tonson and J. Watts in 1722. Two horsemen in plumed helmets, cuirass and cloak ride across the top on horses with richly patterned saddle cloths, one holding a baton. Below, a helmeted rider with shield and spear sits a rearing horse, with a bearded man carrying a club beside it. Small horsemen follow, one with a shield, and three boxed scenes show a bearded rider with a flying cloak, a figure on horseback with a raised arm and a helmeted bearded man reaching toward it, and a rider in a long cloak with a baton. The largest figure, at lower right, is a horseman whose body and horse are both covered in scale armor, wearing a pointed helmet. At lower left are two riders with cloaks and two saddled horses led by bearded men, one with a spear.

The captions read "Theodosian Pillar" under the three upper horsemen, "Trajans Pillar" under the small rider with a shield and under the horseman in scale armor, "Beger" under one boxed scene, and "Antonine Pillar" under the three lower left groups. Trajans Pillar is Trajan's Column in Rome; the Antonine pillar is the column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome; the Theodosian Pillar is the column of Theodosius in Constantinople, known from drawings. The figure numbers run from 1 to 9. The corners read "Page 48", "Vol. IV." and "Plate 11". No engraver's signature appears.

Montfaucon's Antiquity Explained is the English translation by David Humphreys of L'Antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures, published in Paris in 1719 by Bernard de Montfaucon (1655 to 1741), a French Benedictine monk and scholar. Its fourth volume is given to war. Each figure is copied from a monument, coin, gem or earlier antiquarian book, with its source engraved beside it.

Its procession of horses and riders reads well framed on a hall wall.

Condition: Complete sheet, edges straight and without nicks. Light, uneven toning, soiled along the bottom, right and top edges. Foxing and several larger brown spots across much of the margin.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.