Links

The folio of plates which accompanied C. Cichorius, Die Reliefs der Traianssäule, Berlin, 1896-1900

This is the clearest and largest scale reproduction of the helical frieze casts ever published. The folio is very rare and only held in Britain in university libraries at Birmingham, Liverpool, Oxford (Sackler Library), University College London, University of London Senate House Libraries (ULRLS), and the Victoria and Albert Museum National Art Library.

Scanned copy of Bartoli, P.S., Colonna Traiana eretta dal senato, e popolo romano all’imperatore Traiano Augusto nel suo foro in Roma, Roma, 1673

 This was the very first publication of drawings of the entire helical frieze and pedestal, dedicated ‘alla Maestà Christianissima di Luigi XIV, re di Francie, e re di Navarra’. The style of drawing is contemporary, not an exact reproduction, and the frieze is laid out on the horizontal, not on the diagonal of the helix. This was an immensely influential publication, still often reproduced today.

The McMaster Trajan’s Column site

This provides a searchable database of 500 colour images of the helical frieze navigated through drawings made by Claudio Martini. There are introductory essays by Martin Beckmann and a very short bibliography. The images are from the collection of Peter Rockwell whose primary interest was in small sculptural detail.

The Art of Making in Antiquity site

This is part of the Art of Making in Antiquity: Stoneworking in the Roman World project. It presents collections of images for a number of sculptural monuments in Rome, and elsewhere, from the collection of the sculptor Peter Rockwell. Images for Trajan’s Column are specifically concerned with carving techniques.

The German Archaeological Institute (DAI) Trajan’s Column archive

This presents an almost complete coverage of the helical frieze in black and white images navigated through the Martini drawings.

The Stanford Digital Forma Urbis Romae Project

Although the Column itself does not appear on known fragments, either as Renaissance drawings or as actual marble pieces, parts of the Forum of Trajan are figured, notably elements of the Basilica Ulpia and the flanking libraries.

A virtual tour of the Markets of Trajan

Although this does not go down into the Forum of Trajan, it does demonstrate the scale of the project of terraced building into the slopes of the Quirinal Hill which was closely linked with the Column as height marker and viewing platform.

The Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World

This allows travel routes and distances to be explored across the Roman empire and is useful for following Trajan’s potential movements as depicted on the Column.