Borra, Giovanni Battista "Plate 33." From "The Ruins of Palmyra ..."

Giovanni Battista Borra (1713-1770).  Plate 33.  From The Ruins of Palmyra, otherwise Tedmor in the Desar. & The Ruins of Balbec, otherwise Heliopolis in Coelosyria.   

London: Robert Wood, 1753 & 1757.  14 x 9 (image).   Engraving on laid paper after drawings by Borra.  Very good condition. 

Between 1750 and 1751 Robert Wood traveled in the Middle East with the Italian draftsman Giovanni Battista Borra. Their primary goal was to explore present day Turkey and locate the sites mentioned by Homer during the Trojan War.  Wood continued his travels south into present day Syria and both he and Borra took careful measurements and drawings of the ancient Roman ruins at Palmyra and Baalbek. The results of these travels were a series of magnificent engravings published in 1753 and 1757 in both English and French.  These publications were among the first detailed studies of ancient buildings and both of these works had a profound influence on neoclassical architecture in Britain, Continental Europe and America.  These delightful, delicately engraved prints are fine examples of printmaking in the 18^th century. 

Other plates from this series:

Plate 5

Plate 8

Plate 27

Plate 54