Miracula mundi. The Wonders of the Ancient World in the Graphic Art of the 16th and 17th Centuries

The legendary Wonders of the World, imposing monuments of ancient history, have elicited admiration and whetted the imagination of artists ever since the times of Antiquity. The number and composition of the Wonders changed over time. The classic list of the Seven Wonders of the World comprises the Pyramids of Egypt (the Pyramids in Giza), the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria. With the exception of the pyramid, these architectural and artistic works have not survived and their later representation was very much based on the artists’ imagination. An awareness about the astonishing monuments of the bygone times survived the Middle Ages and the notion of the World’s Wonders was re-awoken in the culture of Humanism. This theme was rediscovered for the visual arts by the Dutch painter Maarten van Heemskerck who, in partnership with the engraver Philips Galle, published a series of engravings known as The Eight Wonders of the World (1572). In the early 17th century, two more cycles were issued; a series of engravings after Maarten de Vos (1614) closely emulating Heemskerck’s work and the more inventive cycle by Antonio Tempesta (1608). A selection from these three print series will form the core of a small exhibition on view in the Graphic Arts Cabinet. Valuable prints loaned from the collections of Royal Canonry of Premonstratensians at Strahov in Prague will be also exhibited. 

A mini-catalogue in Czech and English is accompanying the exhibition.

Curator: Petra Zelenková