19thc Etching, Roman Vestal Virgin

Illustrative etching of The Vestal Claudia Quinta Drawing the Vessel up the Tiber, from a sketch by hector Le Roux. A fine impression on proof etching on India laid paper, on a heavy cream wove paper from "Etudes In Modern French Art", Richard Worthington, Publisher, NY, 1882. Book page with type on the reverse side. 9 1/2" X 12 1/2". Claudia was an ancient Roman Vestal Virgin and the daughter of Appius Claudius Pulcher, consul in 143 BC. She intervened to save her father from attack by a group of plebeians. The crowd attempted to drag him from his chariot during the celebration of his triumph, but Claudia interposed herself between her father and the attackers and accompanied her father up to the capital.