Plate LXXI (71): Narcissus, from "Museum Florentinum" (Statuae antiquae dorum et virorum illustrium)

Art Historical Context

This engraving and etching of Narcissus, Plate LXXI from the 1734 publication *Museum Florentinum*, captures an ancient statue of the mythological youth gazing at his reflection. Created through the collaborative efforts of draftsman Giovanni Domenico Campiglia and engraver Carlo Gregori, the print belongs to a multi-volume catalog documenting celebrated antiquities in Florentine collections. The precise linework of etching combined with engraving allowed for remarkably detailed reproduction of the sculpture’s form, drapery, and idealized anatomy. Published during the height of the Grand Tour era, *Museum Florentinum* played a vital role in circulating knowledge of classical sculpture across Europe. By rendering ancient marbles in black and white, such prints helped shape eighteenth-century tastes for Greco-Roman art and served as portable references for artists and collectors unable to travel to Italy. The choice of Narcissus—a figure symbolizing beauty, self-love, and transformation—reflects the period’s fascination with mythological themes that could be appreciated both aesthetically and morally. Today, this sheet in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection preserves not only the likeness of a long-lost or altered statue but also the scholarly ambition of the Enlightenment to record and share humanity’s artistic heritage.

About the Artist

Giovanni Domenico Campiglia|Carlo Gregori · 1692–1775

Italian painter and printmaker.