Antonio Tempesta

Antonio Tempesta, also called il Tempestino (1555 – 5 August 1630), was an Italian painter and engraver, whose art acted as a point of connection between Baroque Rome and the culture of Antwerp.

In 1612 he engraved a series of plates under the title "Batavorum cum Romanis Bellum" after designs of the Netherlandish artist Otto van Veen, also known as Vaenius (1556-1629) and court painter to Alessandro Farnese.

Van Veen was influenced by the Italian mannerists but had developed his own style anticipating the Flemish baroque of his pupil Peter Paul Rubens.

The series consists of 36 numbered engraved plates and illustrates the armed struggle between the ancient Dutch tribes and their Roman oppressors as narrated in Tacitus' Histories.

Each plate bears at the bottom an engraved legend in Flemish and in Latin while a detailed explanation is printed on the otherwise blank verso.