1st century CE Roman fresco. 18thC Herculaneum excavation c.1760

by Vanni, Niccolo

Herculaneum fresco antique print, fine mezzotint engraving (later-colour).

Original copperplate engraved mezzotint c.1760 by Giuseppe Antonio Aloja from a drawing by Francesco Cepparuli for the most important archaeological work of the 18th century, Le Antichitia di Ercolano Esposto (Herculaneum Antiquities Exposed), published in Naples between 1757 and 1792 (under the patronage of King Charles II), to record discoveries as they were excavated at Pompeii, Ercolano (Herculaneum) and Stabiae (Campania), the region covered by the Mt Vesuvius eruption in 79 CE.

Paper size is 20 x 22cm (approximately 8 x  8 1/2 inches). To plate impression measures 140 x 155mm (5 1/2 x 6 1/8 inches).