A Tavern at Monte Testaccio
Medium
Etching
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. John H. Sichel, 1966
Accession Number
66.747.67
Tags
Art Historical Context
Welcome to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints collection, where Jacob Wilhelm Mechau's *A Tavern at Monte Testaccio (1793) captures a vivid slice of Roman life. This etching by the German artist, known for his meticulous landscapes and architectural views during his travels in Italy, depicts a rustic nestled at the base of Monte Testaccio—an extraordinary ancient mound in Rome formed from millions of discarded amphorae shards dating back to the Roman Empire. Mechau's scene bustles with human figures, horses, trees, and sturdy architecture, evoking the everyday vibrancy of lat...
About the Artist
Jacob Wilhelm Mechau · 1745–1808
Jacob Wilhelm Mechau (1745–1808) was a German painter and draughtsman who became one of the more distinctive landscape artists working in Rome during the late eighteenth century. Born in Dresden in 1745, Mechau received his early artistic education in the rich environment of that city's court culture, which placed a high premium on classical training and technical refinement. He later made his way...