In and Around the Forum

Forum Romanum

Cat. No. 1 Maarten van Heemskerck Forum Romanum looking north from the Northern corner of the Palatine

Left Sheet: Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett 79D2 6r 133 × 209 mm. Pen and brown ink with some brown ink wash Water Mark: none

Right Sheet: Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett 79D2 9r 135 × 209 mm. Pen and brown ink Water Mark: none Notes: Red chalk traces on lower and upper right edges

Literature: Michaelis, 131; Hülsen and Egger, vol. 1, 5–6; Winner, 1967, cat. No. 15; Filippi, 98; Stritt (2004), 68; DiFuria (2010a), 94–95; Veldman (2012), 18; Dacos (2012), 65–68.

This polished drawing on two sheets of Van Heemskerck’s sketch- book is among his most famous. From a vantage point at the northern foot of the Palatine, some of the forum’s buildings face the pic- ture plane while others sit at angles revealing rhythmic displays of receding columns. Van Heemskerck’s chosen viewpoint enables him to show seventeen monuments, fourteen of which appear on other sheets in closer views. Beginning at left are the remaining columns and cornices of the Temples of the Dioscurii, Saturn, and Vespasian. Ss. Sergio e Bacco, the Column of Phocas, and the Arch of Septimius Severus occupy the central middle ground. Directly behind and above the Temple of Vespasian are the Tabularium and the Palaz- zo dei Senatori, while Santa Maria in Aracoeli and the Capitoline Obelisk sit directly above the Severan arch.1 Unidentified medieval buildings are at the extreme right of the left sheet. The right sheet begins with the south wall of the church of S. Adriano, built from the Roman Curia. To its right, in the distance, we see the columns of Marcus Aurelius and Trajan. In the middle ground, Van Heemskerck shows the medieval housing that was then on the site of the Basilica Amelia. Moving right, the Temple of Faustina and the Divus Romulus gradually advance to the foreground.2 In the right background, the ruined pediment of the Frontespizio di Nerone (perhaps the Tem- plum Solis or Templum Serapidis) on the Quirinal pierces the sky above the cornice of the Temple of Faustina. Further right, the Forum Nervae’s Temple of Minerva is nestled behind the Temple of Faustina and the Divus Romulus. In the most distant right background, the Trofei di Mario sits high atop its Quirinal perch. Quickly rendered figures can be seen scattered throughout the forum. In the area before the Arch of Septimius Severus, two figures swing pickax- es while two others appear to be lugging something heavy, perhaps a block of marble. We notice several departures from the forum – and this view – as it must have appeared in the early 1530s.3 Van Heemskerck did not draw the medieval encasement on the Arch of Septimius Severus. In place of the campanile of Ss. Sergio e Bacco is a monolithic object with no windows or roof. San Lorenzo in Miranda has vanished from within the columns of the Temple of Faustina. Van Heemskerck has also “moved” the column of Marcus Aurelius to the east so that it is visible between the Curia and the Column of Trajan. Had he not taken this slight liberty, the column would have remained hid- den behind the Capitoline because it is actually further west than its location in this drawing. The façade of Santa Maria in Aracoeli does not appear, though it could have been seen from this angle,