Anonymus, Rezension von: Giovan Pietro Bellori, Selecti nummi duo Antoniniani, quorum primus anni novi auspicia, alter Commodum & Annium Verum Caesares exhibit, ex Bibiotheca Eminentissimi Principis Camilli Cardinalis Maximi,Romæ, Typis Iacobi Dragondelli, 1676 in: Giornale de' letterati, ed. Giovanni Giustino Ciampini, 1676, pp. 169-175 (FONTES 22)

Abstract

TEN CONTEMPORARY REVIEWS OF BOOKS ON ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY BY GIOVAN PIETRO BELLORI IN THE GIORNALE DE' LETTERATI, 1670-1680, NO. 7 A treatise by Giovan Pietro Bellori dedicated to two coins in the collection of Cardinal Massimi, Selecti nummi duo Antonini, was published in 1676 and reviewed in the same year in each of the two series of the Giornale de’ letterati, that is, in the Giornale of Francesco Nazari and in that of Giovanni Giustino Ciampini. The reviews are different; both however, provide a detailed summary of Bellori’s work and of his extensive research. The inscription on the reverse of the first coin, dedicated to the Emperor Antoninus, was interpreted by Bellori as referring to the custom of wishing the Consul health and prosperity at the beginning of the new year, “di far voti per la loro salute e prosperità”. The reviewer presents Bellori’s extensive epigraphic and numismatic evidence. The second coin, in later times shown to be a fake, represented the sons of Antoninus, Commodus and Annius Verus. It is not clear, however, if "Antoninus" is Antoninus Pius or Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Bellori presents evidence to substantiate both claims but leaves the question open. The review of Selecta nummi duo Antonini that appeared in Ciampini's edition of the Giornale is well-structured and very careful in the treatment of details. The text is formulated with notable literary skill. The author demonstrates further his familiariy with Bellori's unpublished work on the Colonna Antoniniana. It is likely that he is also the reviewer of the Columna Antoniniana (FONTES 19, Bellori 5), published by Pietro Santi Bartoli and Bellori in the same year