‘ABOVE: “PRESB.” BELOW: “MARCUS ANTONIUS S.R.E. PRESBYTER CARD. BARBADICUS. VENETUS.” LOWER MARGIN: “IO. IACOBUS DE RUBEIS FORMIS ROMAE AD TEMPLI PACIS CUM PRIV. S.P.”‘ – Fine engraved portrait of Cardinal Marcantonio Barbarigo (Marcus Antonius Barbadicus), shown half-length within an oval frame. He wears a cardinal’s biretta and clerical robes, rendered with delicate hatching and refined tonal modelling. At the upper corners appear heraldic coats of arms, emphasizing his ecclesiastical rank and noble lineage. The portrait is set against a background of horizontal engraved lines, typical of Roman printmaking of the late seventeenth century. Marcantonio Barbarigo (1640-1706) was a Venetian cardinal and prominent churchman, known for his ecclesiastical reforms and patronage. The print was published in Rome by Giovanni Giacomo de Rossi (Io. Jacobus de Rubeis), one of the leading print publishers of the period, active near the Temple of Peace.
