View of the interior of the Flavian Amphitheater called the Colosseum (Veduta dell'interno dell'Anfiteatro Flavio detto il Colosseo)

As one of the most iconic monuments from the Roman Empire, Piranesi knew to include the Colosseum in his “Vedute di Roma” series. By the 18th-century, however, the Colosseum was a much-decayed version of itself. Despite Pope Benedict XIV affirming the Colosseum as a sacred site in 1749, Piranesi chose to depict the site through a lens of decay. Piranesi’s etching of farm animals, stones covered in moss, beggars, and unstable concrete send a message of tragedy. Unlike his other renderings of the Colosseum, Piranesi chose to highlight the fragility and deterioration of the once great site. Through its melancholic beauty, the crumbling ruins of the Colosseum evoke a sense of nostalgia for a lost era, while simultaneously warning of decline if society fails to heed the lessons of history.

Arthur M. Hind (Author), Giovanni Battista Piranesi: A Critical Study, with a List of His Published Works and Detailed Catalogues of the Prisons and the Views of Rome, Da Capo Press, New York, 1967, ©1922

Henri Focillon (Author), Giovanni-Battista Piranesi: Essai de Catalogue Raisonné de Son Oeuvre, Librairie Renouard, Henri Laurens, Paris, 1918

Piranesi's Rome: Views of the Eternal City, Luther W. Brady Art Gallery, Olivia Kohler-Maga, September 04, 2024 - December 07, 2024