Il Tempio Vaticano 1694

The story of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican recounted through the extraordinary engravings of Alessandro Specchi, published in large format on parallel foldout pages. Carlo Fontana's Templum Vaticanus, published in Rome in 1694, is the most extraordinary document devoted to the history of the complex of St. Peter's. Through the series of engravings made by Alessandro Specchi from Fontana's own drawings, the volume retraces the history of the basilica's design from its origins, when it was erected at the order of Emperor Constantine near the tomb of the apostle Peter and on the site of Nero's Circus, up until the end of the seventeenth century. The volume conveys the full splendor of the engravings by publishing their reproductionson parallel foldouts in different formats. Fontana's text is introduced by a series of essays written by the most accredited scholars to have investigated the history of the temple, from its foundation in the Roman era up until the alterations made in the seventeenth century. Essays by Hellmut Hager, Filippo Coarelli, Arnaldo Bruschi, Christof Thoenes, Tod Marder, Sarah Mcphee, Sible de Blaauw, Filippo Camerota, Cristiano Tessari.