Illustrated commentary on Suetonius's Lives of the Twelve Caesars

Publisher Christoph Plantin Netherlandish

1578

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

The scenes on the Silver Caesars were conceived by an antiquarian scholar who paired the ancient stories from Suetonius with appropriate ancient images. He was probably aided by this late sixteenth-century commentary on Suetonius’s Lives of the Twelve Caesars. The commentary links individual passages in Suetonius’s text with specific Roman coins; these same connections between stories and coins are evident on the tazze.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Exhibition History

Title: Illustrated commentary on Suetonius's Lives of the Twelve Caesars
Publisher: Christoph Plantin (Netherlandish, Saint-Avertin ca. 1520–1589 Antwerp)
Date: 1578
Culture: Flemish, Antwerp
Medium: Print book.
Dimensions: Other: 17 cm (17 cm)
Classification: Books and book bindings
Credit Line: Purchased on the Gordon N. Ray Fund, 1988-9.
Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts