Romeinse triomftocht 1580

Étienne Dupérac created this print of a Roman Triumph sometime in the late 16th century. This bird's eye view shows the procession, which was a traditional way of publicly celebrating the success of a military commander. The print is full of classical references designed to evoke the grandeur of ancient Rome. But what was the public role of images like this in Dupérac's time? Well, prints such as this one circulated among collectors and antiquarians who were fascinated by Roman history, and who saw the classical era as a model for their own. Dupérac's print is an idealised vision that reflects a nostalgia for a past era. It’s a reminder that our understanding of the past is always shaped by the cultural values and the social institutions of the present. To understand the place of this print in its own time, we might research the history of printmaking, the role of antiquarianism, and the political uses of classical imagery in early modern Europe.