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Encyclopedia Ichnographica

Columna apotheoseos Antonini Pii

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Columna apotheoseos Antonini Pii

...columna Antonini Pii, was erected in memory of Antoninus Pius, by his two adopted sons, Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. It stood a little west of the present House of Parliament, on the edge of the slight elevation known as monte Citorio. It had the same orientation as the Ustrinum, from which it was separated by a distance of 25 meters. The column was a monolith: of red granite, 14.75 meters high, and stood on a pedestal of white marble. As represented on a coin of Antoninus, it was surrounded by a grating. Previous to the eighteenth century the base of the column was entirely buried, but the lower part of the shaft itself projected about 6 meters above the ground. In 1703 the base was excavated, but the shaft lay in the piazza Colonna for many years, until it was used to repair the obelisk in the same piazza. Three of the sides of the pedestal, which is now in the Vatican gardens, are covered with reliefs. The principal one, representing the apotheosis of Antoninus and Faustina, was turned toward the Ustrintim. The other two represent soldiers on the march. The fourth side bears the dedicator inscription. (Platner)

Vincenzo Fasolo, "The Campo Marzio of G. B. Piranesi".
2691a
1956

24 December
2013.12.24 19:05

There are many instances where buildings delineated within the Ichnographia Campus Martius are presented together yet actually never existed at the same time. For example, the Amphitheatrum Statilii Tauri burned in the great fire of 64 A.D., and the Columna apotheoseos Antonini Pii (depicted just right of the amphitheater) was erected in 162, and the Columna Cochlidos (depicted left and just behind the amphitheater) was erected in 192.

Similarly, the T[emplum] Pietatis and the Theatrum Marcelli are delineated together within the Ichnographia, yet the temple of Pietas was destroyed by Augustus in order to make room for the theater of Marcellus.

Of more interest, however, is that Piranesi also omitted buildings that should have been delineated within the Ichnographia. While the Sepulchrum Honorij Imp., the mausoleum built by the emperor Honorius circa 400, is within the Ichnographia, the building that the mausoleum was in actuality attached to, the basilica of St. Peter built by the emperor Constantine circa 330, is not delineated within the Ichnographia.

To: James Adam
From: Robert Adam
Date: 13 September 1755
[I] got [Piranesi] to finish the whole of Rome and to publish it alone without joining it in a book whose principal dedication was to my Lord Charlemont, which made mine less regarded, whereas mine being sold separate all the world will purchase it and have no other name to detract from the honour of the intention.

Within the first volume of Le Antichità Romane are a series of plans of ancient Rome: baths of Titus, topographical map, barracks of Tiberius, baths of Caracalla, nymphaeum of Nero, baths of Diocletian, Forum Romanum, Capitoline Hill. When combined with the Ichnographia Campus Martius these plans constitute an almost complete plan of ancient Rome.

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