Templum Idor Egito, from a Series of 24 Depicting (Reconstructed) Buildings from Roman Antiquity

Perspectival cross section of a building referred to as the ‘Templum Idor Egito’. The building has a circular floor plan and consists of a central round nave of three stories high, surrounded by an ambulatory that reaches up to the second floor. Both the walls of the nave and the ambulatory are characterized by arches that are open to the exterior. The nave is crowned by an oculus. The building is similar to, but cannot be identified as a known central-plan building from the Roman and Early Christian periods.

The print is part of a group of architectural prints depicting buildings from Roman Antiquity, ranging from triumphal arches to bath houses, temples and palaces in Italy, France and Spain. Some of the buildings have been artificially reconstructed based on Medieval descriptions, while others are depicted in their ruinous states. The plates are known in several (uncatalogued) states, and have undergone minor changes over time. Several titles of buildings have been changed, and the plates have been cropped as a result of plate cracks and oxidation.

Most copper plates for this series have been engraved on both sides. This print is printed from the same plate as the 'Palatium Se. Lugduni' (later renamed 'Termae Antoniae').

Credit: Purchase, Edward Pearce Casey Fund and Carolyn H. Specht Gift, 2016