On the frontispiece of this etching done by the Italian engraver Antonio Tempesta based on a model by the Flemish painter Otto van Veens, Roma and Batavia shake hands. The gesture depicted in the foreground is directly related to the scenes in the background: in a triumphal procession, Roman troops on the left of the picture enter an ancient city through an arch of honour, while in the right background, armed soldiers shown from behind make their way towards the wooded mountains – the war is over.
Both the chosen format tondo and the motif of the handshake are clearly reminiscent of ancient coins, such as the denarius shown here, which was issued after the Social Wars in 70 BC. As in the case of the Roman coinage, the 36 etchings of Batavorum cum Romanis Bellum were issued after the sealing of a peace agreement – the Twelve Years’ Truce (1609-1621). This was a temporary peace negotiated between the southern and northern provinces of the Netherlands, which were rebelling against the central power of the Habsburgs. The Netherlands achieved their independence at the end of the Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648).
P. Furius Calenus, P. Mucius Scaevola Cordus, Denarius Serratus depicting Italia and Roma (reverse)
Museum of the University of Tübingen MUT
Inv.-Nr.: III 159/1
The coin minted after the ancient war under the sign of Concordia was appropriately received in the Bellum and the gesture of peace depicted was related to the political present of the Netherlands. Almost every sheet in the series, both in the images and in the captions and inscriptions, carries out a programmatic equation of the contemporary Dutch with the ancient community of the Batavians and their uprising against the imperial power of Rome as described by Tacitus.
Further Reading
- Di Carlo, Laura / Richter, Daniel. R. F.: Visuelle Aushandlungen des Friedens. Die kreative Aneignung der Antike in Otto van Veens Batavorum cum romanis Bellum, in: Laura Di Carlo / Johannes Lipps / Anna Pawlak / Daniel R.F. Richter (Ed.): Andere Ästhetik meets andere Ästhetik. Visualisierungen von Antiken nördlich der Alpen in der frühneuzeitlichen Druckgraphik.
- Leuschner, Eckhard: Antonio Tempesta. Ein Bahnbrecher des römischen Barock und seine europäische Wirkung, Petersberg 2005 (Studien zur internationalen Architektur- und Kunstgeschichte 26), pp. 464–469.
- Morford, Mark: „Theatrum hodiernae vitae“: Lipsius, Vaenius, and the Rebellion of Civilis, in: Karl Enenkel (Ed.): Recreating Ancient History. Episodes from Greek and Roman Past in the Arts and Literature of Early Modern Period, Leiden 2001, pp. 57–74.
