Print Exhibition: Eighteenth-Century Views of Rome

17 January–10 April 1990

The demand from English, French, and German travelers and amateur antiquarians for vedute, or views, of Rome, which had begun as early as the 16th century, increased dramatically by the 1750s after the discovery and excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii. Guiseppe Vasi responded to the situation by creating great expansive views of the city, often numbering the monuments and identifying them below the scene. These views, such as the panoramic Prospetto dell’Alma città di Roma dal Monte Gianicolo and the stately Fernese Palace (sic) were intended to serve as both a guide for touring Rome and as a souvenir of the city. Giovanni Battista Piranesi, who had assisted Vasi in his Prospetto, became one of the pre-eminent printmakers of his day. From 1745 until his death thirty-three years later, Piranesi worked on his most celebrated print series of ancient, Renaissance and Baroque landmarks of the city, Le Vedute di Roma, of which the present engravings were a part. The engravings and etchings by Piranesi and Vasi not only present great technical expertise and artistic excellence, but also reveal to the modern viewer an image of Rome uncluttered by the urban trappings of today’s city. 18th Century Views of Rome was created from the permanent collection of the Smart Museum and the Berlin Collection of the Joseph Regenstein Library.

Curator: Stephanie D’Alessandro, graduate curatorial intern

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