Bernardo Prevedari, Interior of a ruined church or temple with figures

Bernardo Prevedari, Interior of a ruined church or temple with figures, engraving, 1481

The engraving, of which only two copies survive, one housed in the Bertarelli Collection and the other at the British Museum in London, reproduces a work by Donato Bramante and was carried out by Bernardo Prevedari, an engraver and goldsmith.
The building, probably the temple of Janus, is depicted while it is being restructured for use as the church of San Giovanni alle Quattro Facce, the parish of Bramante in Via Boito, finally destroyed in 1786.
The tonsured man kneeling within, at the centre, has been identified as St. Barnabas, while on the left is a cardinal archbishop. The two pages on the right are dressed according to the fashion of 1480. A group of horsemen are awaiting the departure of St. Barnabas. The engraving, attributed for over a century to Bramante, because of the inscription BRAMANTU FECIT IN MLO, located at the base of the pillar, greatly influenced Renaissance painting also north of the Alps.