Sites to Behold: Travels in Eighteenth-Century Rome

November 3, 2009 – April 11, 2010

Rome has long been a leading tourist destination. Many of the "must-see" sites were codified centuries ago as part of the Grand Tour, a journey undertaken by young aristocrats to complete their education and give them experience of the world. But by the late eighteenth century, the once-exclusive Grand Tour was giving way to more modern, democratic notions of travel. 

No longer the preserve of a privileged elite, travel to Italy and other places came within the reach of a wider public, who were eager for tangible souvenirs of what they saw and experienced. This exhibition presents etchings by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, gouache drawings by Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Lallemand, and other works depicting Rome and nearby Tivoli. These eighteenth-century artists, with their different temperaments, techniques, and styles, produced a breathtaking variety of art. A far cry from the monotony of the picture-postcard aesthetic, the works on view appealed to a wide array of tastes and allowed travelers of the period to marvel at the splendor and ruin of an ancient world long after they returned home.

Curator: Anne Leonard, Smart Museum Curator and Mellon Program Coordinator.

Presented in the Edward A. and Inge Maser Gallery for Art Before 1900.

Share this:

Explore a map of Rome

  • Interactive Map of Rome

    Become a virtual tourist and explore an interactive map of Rome. The map allows you to locate many of the sites portrayed in the exhibition. Click on the markers to compare the eighteenth-century views with their present-day appearance and learn what made them fixtures on a tourist’s Roman itinerary.

Related Programs

Film Series

Archives

2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975

The University of Chicago smARTKids