Octo Mundi Miracula
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File:Maerten van Heemskerck - Panorama with the Abduction of Helen Amidst the Wonders of the Ancient World - Google Art Project.jpg 37 years prior to the Octo Mundi Miracula, but contained a number of similar images (the Colossus, the Lighthouse, the Temple of Artemis and the Hanging Gardens).{{sfn|Hopkins|2024|p=139}}]]
Octo Mundi Miracula (Latin for Eight Wonders of the World), also known De acht wereldwonderen and Huit Merveilles du monde antique, is a series of engravings published in 1572 by the Flemish engraver Philips Galle, based on a set of eight drawings by Dutch painter Maarten van Heemskerck, with accompanying elegiac couplet verses written by Hadrianus Junius. His primary source was Pedro Mexía's 1540 Silva de varia lección, which noted how the classical sources for the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World do not agree on a consistent list.{{harvnb|Hopkins|2024|pp=141-143}}: "His images of these monuments were so visually compelling they became the roster, akin to the standardizing order of the orders achieved by Sebastiano Serlio in 1537, with his treatise Regole generali di architetura. His list was inspired by and indebted to a text which had only been published after his Walters Art Museum painting had been completed: the account provided by Pedro Mexía (1497–1551), in his Silva de varia lección (Seville, 1540)… Using Mexía’s text as his departure point, with its citation of ancient sources, van Heemskeerck could, if he felt the need, also have investigated these sources for himself, written in Latin, or in translations into Latin from the Greek, or from Latin into Italian, such was the plethora of publications in translation that became available in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. More importantly, the Silva’s repeated observation that the ancient sources contradicted themselves was surely a godsend for an artist such as van Heemskerck, because it allowed him to pick and choose the information from the past that would best suit his pictorial, representational strategies when composing his eight drawings."
The series is considered the first known complete visual representation of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and created the modern canonical list of seven wonders – the specific list had not existed is the various classical sources.{{sfn|Clayton|Price|2013|p=5|ps=: "It is perhaps only with the execution of these drawings that the list became fixed for all time , but the details of each monument have been scrutinised ever since under the scientific eye of such scholars as Johann Fischer von Erlach."}}{{sfn|Tobin|2011|p=6|ps=: "The 'canonical' list of the Seven Wonders that we use today was actually drawn up in the sixteenth century by Dutch artist Maarten van Heemskerck, who produced a set of drawings of the Seven Wonders compiled from his perusal of ancient authors. His list contained two statues, the Zeus from Olympia and the Colossus of Rhodes; two sets of tombs, the Pyramids of Egypt and the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus; and several buildings, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Walls and Hanging Gardens of Babylon (counted as one 'wonder'), and the Lighthouse of Alexandria."}} Despite creating the modern canonical seven, the engravings included an eighth monument — the Colosseum — following van Heemskerck's 1533 Self-Portrait with the Colosseum.
Architectural historian Professor Andrew Hopkins of the University of L'Aquila wrote that the Octo Mundi Miracula's "images of these monuments were so visually compelling they became the roster, akin to the standardizing order of the orders achieved by Sebastiano Serlio in 1537, with his treatise Regole generali di architetura".
History
The series was published during the late Northern Renaissance, in the Habsburg Netherlands during the early states of the Dutch Revolt. Heemskerck had been influenced by his travels to Rome (1532–1536/37) where he had studied ruins and the monuments of classical antiquity. Philips Galle was an engraver and publisher, whereas Hadrianus Junius was a humanist poet.{{sfn|Franco|2015}}
Work
=Engravings=
The eight engravings are as follows:
File:Philips Galle, Pyramiderne i Ægypten, 1572, KKSgb10002-1, Statens Museum for Kunst.jpg|The Great Pyramid of Giza: "Piramides Aegypti"
File:Philips Galle, Babylons mure, 1572, KKSgb10002-6, Statens Museum for Kunst.jpg|The Hanging Gardens and Walls of Babylon: “Babylonis Muri”
File:Philips Galle, Jupiterstatuen på Olympen, 1572, KKSgb10002-3, Statens Museum for Kunst.jpg|The Statue of Zeus at Olympia: "Olympy lovis simulacrum"
File:Philips Galle, Dianatemplet i Efesos, 1572, KKSgb10002-4, Statens Museum for Kunst.jpg|The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus: “Dianae Ephesiae Templum”
File:Philips Galle, Mausolæet i Halikarnassos, 1572, KKSgb10002-5, Statens Museum for Kunst.jpg|The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus: “Mausoleum”
File:Philips Galle, Kolossen på Rhodos, 1572, KKSgb10001-4, Statens Museum for Kunst.jpg|The Colossus of Rhodes: “Colossus Solis”
File:Philips Galle, Fyrtårnet i Alexandria, 1572, KKSgb10002-2, Statens Museum for Kunst.jpg|The Lighthouse of Alexandria: “Pharos”
File:Philips Galle, Colosseum i Rom, 1572, KKSgb10002-7, Statens Museum for Kunst.jpg|The Colosseum of Rome: “Amphitheatrum” (Heemskerck's addition)
Heemskerck’s inclusion of the Colosseum deviates from the traditional “seven” and reflects a personal reverence, having studied the Colosseum firsthand in Rome and included it in his 1553 Self-Portrait with the Colosseum. It was the only one of the eight engravings pictured as an actual ruin, rather than in idealized form.{{sfn|Franco|2015}}
Each engraving follows a formula: the wonder occupies the center, surrounded by its historical or mythical context, with rulers, workers, and gods. Junius’ Latin elegiac couplets often reference the builder, the architectural marvel, or its legendary origin.{{sfn|Franco|2015}}
=Verses=
Humanist Hadrianus Junius composed Latin poems for each engraving. While not direct descriptions, the verses offer thematic context and moral reflection. They refer to figures such as Semiramis and Artemisia II and contain technical anecdotes from Roman sources, such as the use of charcoal under the Temple of Artemis.{{sfn|Franco|2015}}
| class="wikitable"
|+ ! |Original Latin |Translation |
| Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
|Mavsoli a bvsto calidos havrire mariti Deposcens conivnx cineres, pietatis advitae Exemplo posvit tvmvlvm spirantia cvivs Artifices svmmi caelarunt marmore signa. |"Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, having received warm blessings from his husband, Deposing his concubine's ashes, he advised his wife with piety Example, he put the living beings breathing Artifices carved marble signs for themselves." |
| Lighthouse of Alexandria
|Cvrsibvs extrvxti rativm Ptolemaee Regundis Nocturnis pharon, vt qvvm nox tenebrosa sileret, Clara, vicem in Phaebes, vomerent funalia lvcem, Infida vt nili sic tvtivs ora svbirent. |"The night-light of Ptolemy's Extruded Pharos, so that when the dark night fell, Clara, in turn, threw the lamps of the night, Unfaithful, so that none of them would speak thus." |
| Pyramids of Giza
|Ardva piramidvm phary miracvla reges Svrgentes gradibvs moles, monvmenta sepvltis, Struxere, et rapidi docvere Hyperionis ignes Vicinos ferre, ad magnae confinia Memphis |"The pyramids of the pharaohs are miraculous kings Surgering up the steep slopes, the tombs of the gods, Structuring, and the rapid fire of Hyperion Bringing the neighbors to the great borders of Memphis" |
| Zeus of Olympia
|Elis olympiadvm mater, qvae signat achivvm Nobilibvs fastos lvdis, miracvla clavdit : Phidiacvm qve iovem ostentat niveo ex elephanto Qvalis caesarie ac nvtv concvssit olympvm. |"Elis, mother of the Olympians, who signs the achievements of the nobles, miraculously speaks: Phidiacius, who shows off Jupiter with a snow-white elephant Whose Caesar and the gods created the Olympians." |
| Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
|Strvxit amazonia hanc ephesvs tibi delia sacram Aedem, lvxvriosae ingens asiae ornamentvm. Fvndamenta palvs tenvit, carbonibvs ante Far ta, vti tellvris starent immota fragore. |"Amazonia built this sacred temple for you in Ephesus, a magnificent ornament of Asia. The foundations were made of palisade, carbonaceous before Far, so that the tellers would stand motionless in the crash." |
| Colosseum of Rhodes
|Septimos decies cvbitos aeqvare colossvs Dictvs, par turri mole svb nomine solis Aere cavo factvs, saxorum vasta caverna Intvs, apvd Rhodios sacros accepit honores. |"Seventy ten thousand cubits equal to the Colossus Said, equal to the tower's mass in the name of the sun A cave made of bronze, a vast cavern of rocks Inside, the Rhodians received sacred honors." |
| Walls of Babylon
|Imperiosa svi secta cervice mariti, Ivsset coctilibvs Babylona Semiramis altam Moenibvs incingi, lento qve bitvmine portas Adiecit centvm, et super his sibi nobile bustum |"Imperious, with the neck of her husband, I had made Babylon Semiramis high Walls girded, slow which bitumen gates Added a hundred, and on these he himself a noble bust" |
| Colosseum of Rome
|Adiicit his vates, cvivs se bilbilis ortv Iactat, caesarei sacrvm decvs amphitheatri : Qvae mvndi speciem moles mentita globosam Accepit cav a popvlos, lvdos qve paravit. |"Added to these the prophets, the city itself is a bulwark I boast, Caesar's sacred ten amphitheatres: What a mass of men lied in a globular shape Accepted the people, the gods who prepared it." |
Influence and Legacy
Octo Mundi Miracula was copied and adapted in many works by artists such as Louis de Caullery and Willem Janszoon Blaeu (e.g. the 1630 Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica ac Hydrographica Tabula).{{sfn|Franco|2015}}
The series was seminal in shaping the iconography of the ancient wonders, as no standard visual tradition had previously existed.{{sfn|Franco|2015}}
Collections and Conservation
Prints from the Octo Mundi Miracula series are preserved in:
- British Museum, London
- Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
- Louvre, Paris
- Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel
Bibliography
- {{cite book | last=Clayton | first=Peter A. | last2=Price | first2=Martin J. | title=Seven Wonders Ancient World | publisher=Routledge | date=2013-08-21 | isbn=978-1-135-62928-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UU2AAAAAQBAJ | access-date=2025-04-20}}
- {{cite thesis | last=Franco | first=Floriane | degree=Masters|title=Octo Mundi Miracula: la série des Huit Merveilles du monde antique, imaginée par Maerten van Heemskerck, 1570-1572 | website=DUMAS | date=2015-09-24 |location = University of Pau and the Adour Region |editor-last1= Forero-Mendoza |editor-first1= Sabine|editor-last2= Le Meaux |editor-first2= Hélène| url=https://dumas.ccsd.cnrs.fr/dumas-01414497v1 | access-date=2025-04-20}}
- {{cite book | last=Hopkins | first=Andrew | title=Citation and Quotation in Early Modern Architecture | chapter=Chapter Five Conjuring up the Wonders: from text to image | publisher=De Gruyter | date=2024-11-04 | isbn=978-3-11-147790-9 | doi=10.1515/9783111477909-006 | doi-access=free | url=https://www.academia.edu/125385548/Conjuring_up_the_Wonders_from_text_to_image_137_69 | access-date=2025-04-20}}
- {{cite journal | last=Sammut | first=Adam | title=Maarten van Heemskerck’s Eight Wonders of the Ancient World : Contesting the Image in an Age of Iconoclasm | journal=Dutch Crossing | volume=46 | issue=1 | date=2022-01-02 | issn=0309-6564 | doi=10.1080/03096564.2018.1524645 | pages=27–49 | url=https://www.academia.edu/44037190/Maarten_van_Heemskercks_Eight_Wonders_of_the_Ancient_World_Contesting_the_Image_in_an_Age_of_Iconoclasm | access-date=2025-04-20}}
- {{cite book | first=Ron|last= Spronk |editor-last=Fenoulhet | editor-first=Jane | editor-last2=Gilbert | editor-first2=Lesley | title=Narratives of Low Countries History and Culture | publisher=UCL Press | date=2016-11-07 | isbn=978-1-910634-99-8|chapter=Maarten van Heemskerck’s use of literary sources from antiquity for his Wonders of the World series of 1572|url=https://ucldigitalpress.co.uk/Book/Article/23/48/1705/}}
- {{cite book | last=Tobin | first=Jennifer | title=Seven Wonders of the Ancient World | date=2011-06-23 | isbn=978-1-4498-3527-9|url=https://rb-sample-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/rb-88951/9781461800026_SevenWondersAncientWorld.pdf}}
- {{cite journal | last=Folin | first=Marco | last2=Preti | first2=Monica | title=Da Anversa a Roma e ritorno: Le Meraviglie del mondo di Maarten van Heemskerck e di Antonio Tempesta | journal=Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz | date=2024-07-16 | doi=10.11588/MKHI.2022.1.105843 | pages=31–67 Seiten | url=https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/mkhi/article/view/105843 | language=it | access-date=2025-04-21}}