Ferdinand Ruscheweyh (1785-1846 )Bassorilievi antichi della Grecia o sia Fregio del tempio di Apollo Epicurio in Arcadia. Designato dagli original da Gio. Maria Wagner ed inciso da Ferdinando Ruschweyh. Rome, Francesco Bourlié, 1814. An oblong paperback album, 475 x 320, containing 25 pl. (of which pl. 23, larger, filled) engraved after the drawings of Johann Martin Wagner, preceded by a title page and 4 leaves of text. The first leaves partially unbound. Small, clear halo of humidity running through the entire volume in the lower left corner. Very faded brown cardboard binding. This volume is the first illustrated publication on the marble friezes of the Greek temple of Apollo Epicurius in Bassae (Peloponnese), depicting battles of centaurs, Lapiths and Amazons. The site was excavated from 1811 onwards. They were carried out by an international team. The sculptures were transported for sale to the Ionian island of Zakynthos (Zakynthos), where J. M. Wagner drew them. Wagner, who had been commissioned by the Bavarian monarch to purchase the sculptures, decided not to acquire them himself, and Taylor Combe acquired them for the British Museum - where they are still housed in a dedicated gallery.