Vedute di Roma 

Giovanni Battista Piranesi created this etching, titled "Vedute di Roma", or "Views of Rome", as part of a series of prints that captured the grandeur and decay of ancient Roman structures. Piranesi lived in Rome during a time when the city was seen as a cultural center, attracting artists, intellectuals, and tourists, yet the city also bore the marks of its long history of decline and transformation. Piranesi's work reflects a complex relationship to the past. His prints present Rome as both a majestic testament to human achievement and a poignant reminder of the transience of power. The focus is on the scale and permanence of these ruins, while at the same time emphasizing their fragility through his rendering of crumbling facades. In his own words Piranesi said, "My ideas require that I produce long shadows to increase the effect of their sublimity". The presence of local inhabitants, dwarfed by the structures around them, further emphasizes the passage of time, and the contrast between past and present. Through his dramatic compositions and intricate detail, Piranesi invites us to contemplate the layers of history embedded in the Roman landscape and our place within it.