VINCENZO LEONARDI (1590-C. 1648)
A Roman steelyard balance (statera)
c.1630-49RCIN 911186
Like the previous item, this drawing formed part of Cassiano dal Pozzo’s ‘paper museum’, and it too demonstrates Cassiano’s interest in Roman daily life. Ancient systems of weight and measure were a particular fascination for seventeenth-century antiquarians. The drawing depicts, at actual size and in several views, a bronze statera or steelyard balance for weighing goods, with three alternative fulcra and corresponding scales, and a bust of Minerva as a counterweight.
No. 130