Rome, 1650
The formidably learned Jesuit, Athanasius Kircher, directed the excavation of the obelisk on the Appian Way and probably composed the inscriptions that were placed on its new base in the Piazza Navona. The book presented his interpretation of the hieroglyphs of the obelisk, with rich, but necessarily fantastic, documentation.
R.G. Storia II 215 folding plate preceding p. 1 arch22 TG.30
Rome, 1541
Printed collections like this one by Bartolomeo Marliani presented the chief antiquities of Rome to a European public. In this case we see the Laocoon, a famous group of sculptures discovered early in the sixteenth century and displayed in the Vatican gardens.
Stamp. Barb. O VIII 69 pp. 80-81 arch23 TG.54