Arch of Septimus Severus 1740 - 1752

Jean Laurent Legeay made this print of the Arch of Septimius Severus in Rome, sometime in the mid-18th century. This image speaks to the rise of Neo-classicism, an aesthetic and philosophical movement that looked back to classical antiquity for models of civic virtue and artistic excellence. Legeay renders the Arch with precision, emphasizing its monumental scale and geometric clarity. The surrounding figures and buildings are diminutive by comparison, reinforcing the Arch’s symbolic power. It commemorates military victories, but also embodies the values of the Roman Empire. This was a period when European elites used the art of the past to legitimise their own social and political power. To fully understand this print, we can examine architectural treatises, travelogues, and collections catalogues of the time. These sources reveal how classical monuments were used both to inspire and to instruct. They were seen as exemplars of order, reason, and civic responsibility.