A Roman emperor sitting in a niche holding a globe and sceptre and looking to his left 1505 - 1535

Marcantonio Raimondi made this engraving of a Roman emperor in the early 16th century. It presents an intriguing set of questions about how Renaissance artists engaged with classical antiquity. Raimondi was working in Italy at a time when ancient Roman art and ideas were being rediscovered. In this image, we see a Roman emperor, complete with laurel wreath and sceptre. His pose, attire, and the architectural niche all evoke the grandeur of Rome. This work was made during the High Renaissance when the Vatican was the center of artistic production. It is interesting to think about the role of the papacy in reviving Roman glory. Did the Catholic Church see itself as a continuation of Roman power? To learn more, we might look at histories of the Vatican collections, records of artists' commissions, and analyses of the classical tradition in Renaissance art. By studying the image in relation to these sources, we can see how art both reflects and shapes its cultural context.