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BONIFACIO, Natale - b. 1538 Sibenik, d. 1592 Sibenik - WGA

BONIFACIO, Natale

(b. 1538 Sibenik, d. 1592 Sibenik)

Natale Bonifacio da Sebenico, Dalmatian printmaker. Very little is known of his life. In the 1570s he is documented as traveling to Venice, where he published some maps. From there in 1575 - in conjunction with the opening of the Holy Year - he moved to Rome. He engraved the plates drawn by Giovanni Guerra for Dominico Fontana in 1586 illustrating the transportation of the Vatican obelisk. The plates are signed “Natalis Bonifacius Sibenicensis fec.”

Moving the Augustan Obelisk at St. Peter's
Moving the Augustan Obelisk at St. Peter's by

Moving the Augustan Obelisk at St. Peter's

The print shows the south flank of Old St. Peter’s, the atrium of the old basilica with Giotto’s mosaic of the Navicella on the inside entrance wall, a view into the sacristy of St. Peter’s through the wall breached to make room for the pulleys and winches used for moving the obelisk, and the new St. Peter’s under construction.

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