San Pietro incontra Cristo sulla via di Roma, 1578

Martino Rota (Šibenik 1520 - Vienna 1583) Saint Peter meets Christ on the way to Rome, 1578 Engraving Measurements: mm 254 x 350 A painter and engraver about whom little biographical information exists regarding his early training. In 1540 he was in Rome where he created works in the style of Marcantonio Raimondi, translating subjects from Raphael, Luca Penni, and Michelangelo. The most famous is the reduced-size copy of the fresco of the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. After leaving Rome, he moved first to Florence and then to Venice where he engraved works from Titian and views of the city. Finally, in 1568 he was in Vienna, appointed court painter and engraver. In this print, he translates one of the tapestries that Raphael created for the Sistine Chapel depicting the stories of Saints Peter and Paul. Through a precise use of technique and sharp chiaroscuro contrasts that lend dynamism to the figures, we see Christ and Peter depicted in the foreground just outside the entrance to the gates of the city of Rome. According to the apocryphal book of the Acts of Peter, during the persecution of Christians ordered by Emperor Nero, Saint Peter, holding the keys in his hand, flees from Rome to avoid martyrdom, and while on the Appian Way he is met by Jesus carrying the cross of martyrdom. Peter then utters the famous phrase: Domine quo vadis? and Christ replies Eo Romam Iter crocifigi. Rota engraved the two phrases on the wall of the tower located between the faces of the two protagonists. In the background, mountain ranges and elaborate profiles of the buildings of the city of Rome, a group of soldiers on the right hold banners as they exit the city gate. In the engraving below, respectively from left to right: Lucas Bertellus Formis, Raphael Vrbino Pinxit inVaticano / Martin Rota Sebenzano F. 1578. The plate was published by the publisher Luca Bertelli, active in Venice and probably also in Rome between approximately 1560 and 1580. Excellent impression with intense blacks. Excellent condition, trimmed example along the copperplate mark. Another example is preserved at the Pinacoteca Repossi. Bibliography: Bartsch XVI n. 6; TIB . XXXIII  n. 6