Roma Aeterna.

A complete set of 100 views of the main monuments and historical sites in Rome. However, the index page is missing.

Pieter SCHENK (1660-1718) was born in Germany but moved to Amsterdam where he became one of the students of Gérard VALCK, a very famous engraver. In 1687, he married G. Valck's sister. Thus united, the 2 families engage  for a long period of time in diversified activities: sales of engravings, book editions, maps, topographical and architectural drawings... They produce original maps but also present atlases constituted  by the printing of maps originally drawn by others but revised by them. In 1700, he was appointed engraver of the Court by Augustus II, elector of Saxony and Bavaria.

With[nbsp]Roma Aeterna, Pieter Schenk presents a compilation of engravings from ancient and modern Rome and we can see different uses of the Vedute. This publication can be compared to a modern picture book that was certainly used more as a reminder of the city than to prepare a  trip.

Védute compilations like this one were permanently sold in Rome (although  this specific copy was published in Amsterdam) to tourists who wanted a collection of images of the city. Some engravings that present reconstructed monuments show the interest for professionals and amateurs in the reconstruction of monuments of the past... The images of the ruins are the symbol of the long past history of the City and at the same time looking forward, as the symbol for eternity, of what we rightly call The Eternal City...