This unusual double image portrays two different city gates on the same plate. Its sequence in Volume I falls between the two different gates to which it refers. On the left he depicts the interior of Porta S. Paolo (see Plate 11 for the exterior view) secondo lo stato presente (in its present condition) and on the right he presents an earlier gate that preceded the Porta Portuense (see Plate 12). Porta S. Paolo was one of the few gates to have preserved its vantage court (i.e.: the second line of defense behind the main gate) which Vasi illustrates here. What appears to be a medieval tower built over the open arch has been partially destroyed. On the right of this part of the plate we see the late 1st century BC pyramid of Caius Cestius which was incorporated into Aurelian's late 3rd century walls; Nolli notes the Protestant cemetery (Luogo ove si seppellisconi i Protestanti; NN 1069) a few meters to the right bounded by the wall. The right hand image showing symmetrically paired cylindrical towers flanking the twin entries illustrates the exterior of the original Porta Portuense demolished in 1643 and replaced by the present one, shown in Plate 12.
|
