Philipp GALLE (Haarlem 1537 - Antwerp 1612) "Colossus Solis" (The Colossus of Rhodes) Original engraving in grain signed in the lower left plate "PGalle fecit", from a subject by Martin van Heemskerk for the series dedicated to the Seven Wonders of the Mondo and the Flavian Amphitheater, engraved in 1572. Beautiful specimen in the first state, before the numbering that will appear at the bottom right, printed with an accurate inking rich in shades of gray on thin laid paper bearing an undecoded watermark, with large margins besides the imprint of the slab, slight traces of dirt and minimal other defects at the edges as well as a handwritten notation at the high one, but overall in excellent general condition. The gigantic statue, about thirty-two meters high, represented Helios, the God of the Sun, to whom the rodiesi were particularly devoted, was built according to what Pliny the Elder writes in twelve years, the structure was made of stone columns held together by elements in iron and coated with bronze sheets, when it fell into the sea during the earthquake of 226 BC its fame increased again and for eight hundred years it was half of visitors amazed by its beauty and grandeur. After the Arab conquest of Rhodes, the statue was sacked and traces of the various sections were definitively lost. Bibliography: “The New Hollstein - Philips Galle” Amsterdam 2001 part.II n ° 481. "The New Hollstein - Maarten van Heemskerk" Amsterdam 1993 No. 516. Measurements in mm: 210 x 254