Bidspirit auction | Caprarola arx et horti Farnesiani.

Caprarola arx et horti Farnesiani. Colónia / Antuérpia, c. 1596. - [CAPRAROLA – PALAZZO FARNESE]. Caprarola arx et horti Farnesiani. Georg BRAUN; Frans HOGENBERG (eds.). [Cologne and Antwerp, Georg Braun & Frans Hogenberg, c. 1596]. Engraving; 425 × 535 mm (sheet). Perspective view of the great pentagonal Farnese palace at Caprarola, with the main façade in the foreground, standing on powerful tiered bastions; the circular inner courtyard is partially visible, as is the regular sequence of windows running across the various storeys. Behind the palace lie the formal terraced gardens, with geometric flowerbeds, box hedges, pools and fountains, the design extending to the adjoining woodland and surrounding wooded landscape; at right, another walled terrace with a symmetrical garden. In the foreground, two male figures, probably visitors or members of the patron family, confer scale on the ensemble. Verso printed in Latin under the heading CAPRAROLA , with extensive description of the palace and gardens, paged “61”, forming part of volume V of the Civitates orbis terrarum . The palace of Caprarola, also known as Villa Farnese, was built from 1559 onwards for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, grandson of Pope Paul III, to designs by Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, and constitutes one of the most perfect examples of Renaissance palace architecture and of the articulation between fortified residence and terraced gardens. The engraving by Braun and Hogenberg, based on a contemporary drawing, became the most famous representation of the complex and underscores the visual dominance of the building over the Latium landscape.