Vue du monument appellé vulgairement a Athenes L´arc de Thesée

Engraved view. 56x41 cms. Black and white.Fine condition.The engraving shows the gateway known as Arch of Hadrian.The Arch of Hadrian is a monumental gateway resembling – in some respects – a Roman triumphal arch. It spanned an ancient road from the center of Athens, Greece, to the complex of structures on the eastern side of the city that included the Temple of Olympian Zeus. It has been proposed that the arch was built to celebrate the adventus (arrival) of the Roman Emperor Hadrian and to honor him for his many benefactions to the city, on the occasion of the dedication of the nearby temple complex in 131 or 132 AD.[1] It is not certain who commissioned the arch, although it is probable that the citizens of Athens or another Greek group were responsible for its construction and design. There were two inscriptions on the arch, facing in opposite directions, naming both Theseus and Hadrian as founders of Athens.The engraving illustrates the monuments as it was supposed to be in the middle of the XVIII c and was inlcuded in Le Roy´s influential work on Greece that was a major source of inspiration aesthetically. Ref Blackmer 1009, Atabey 709