If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 620

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Arch of Constantine, ca early 1900s

 

This is an unused vintage postcard from the early 1900s with a divided back and a tinted or colored, black & white photograph of the Arch of Constantine.  It is hard to discern how the color was applied or what type of coloring was used.  It almost looks like a watercolor wash.  The card does not have a photographer or printer/publisher identified or a number.  There is; however, a blurb in the correspondence space that reads:  “The Arch of Constantine.—Erected by Constantine, the first Christian emperor in Rome:  is one of the great relics of Rome in the great and glorious past.” 

 

There is a figure standing in the arch on the right side of the card that provides some perpective as to the overall size of the arch.  The main arch measures 69 ft (21 m) high, 85 ft (25.9m) wide, and 24 ft (7.4 m) deep.  The two smaller arches are 38 ft (11.5 m) high, 21 ft (6.5 m) wide.  The entire structure is decorated in reliefs and statues that were removed from earlier triumphal monuments dedicated to Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius.  The portrait heads were replaced with Constantine’s likeness.  Constantine reigned from 306 to 337 with the arch built between 312 and 315.  The arch is on the route, called the Via sacra triumphalis, taken by emperors when they entered the city in triumph and is located between the Palatine Hill and the Caelian Hill.  The arch is not far from the Colosseum, a section of which can be seen at the right lower side of the card. 

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_of_Constantine