Hercules Farnese.

Engraving, 47,5 x 32,4 cm, laid paper, signed at bottom of statue "Jacobus Bosius Belga incidit" (laid down on paper, some minor stains, tiny hole in lower margin, not affecting the image).

Spectacular depiction of the famous Hercules statue in the collection of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, grandson of Pope Paul III. It stood for generations in its own room at Palazzo Farnese, Rome, where the statue was surrounded by frescoed depictions of the hero's mythical feats that were created by Annibale Carracci and his studio, executed in the 1590s. The engraving was part of the "Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae", the series started in the 1540s by the Roman publishers Antonio Salamanca and Antonio Lafreri. These etchings and engravings with representations of the antique and modern marvels of Rome were purchased by tourists as souvenirs, studied by antiquarians, used as models by artists, and circulated as virtual visits for armchair travellers beyond the city walls. Jacob Bos (ca. 1520-1580) was an engraver from 's-Hertogenbosch who worked in Rome between 1549 and 1580 for the major print publishers such as Tramezzino, Salamanca and Lafreri. First state.
Ref. Hollstein III:15.- Huelsen 55a.- M. Bury, "The Print in Italy 1550-1625", British Museum, London 2001, p. 223.