Maltese archaeologist. He moved as a child to Rome, where he eventually became the agent of the Knights of Malta. In 1593 he began an extensive study of the catacombs; his discoveries were published posthumously in ‘Roma sotterranea’ (1632).
The great work achieved by Bosio was almost unknown till the publication three years after his death of his “Roma Sotterranea”. The folio volume was brought out under the patronage of the Knights of Malta, by the Oratorian Severano, who had been entrusted with its editorship by Cardinal Francesco Barberini. Its full title is “Roma Sotterranea, opera postuma di Antonio Bosio Romano, antiquario ecclesiastico singolare de’ suoi tempi. Compita, disposta, et accresciuta dal M. R. P. Giovanni Severani da S. Severino” (Rome, 1632).
The present engraving from Roma Sotterranea (Vol. 2, 131) depicts a six-century wall painting fragment from the catacombs of Poziano.
