The Arch of Titus (Veduta dell'Arco di Tito)
ca. 1760
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Plate: 15 15/16 × 24 5/16 in. (40.5 × 61.8 cm) Sheet: 20 11/16 × 27 7/8 in. (52.6 × 70.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Alfred J. Marrow, 1964
Accession Number
64.521.4
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into ancient Rome through Giovanni Battista Piranesi's masterful *The Arch of Titus (uta dell'Arco di)*, created around 1760. This veduta, or detailed topographical view, captures the iconic triumphal arch in the Roman Forum, built in 81 AD to honor Emperor Titus and his father Vespasian for their victories, including the sack of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The arch's intricate reliefs—depicting spoils like the Menorah from the Temple—stand as enduring symbols of Roman imperial glory amid the ruins, evoking the grandeur and transience of antiquity. Piranesi, a Venetian-born architect and printma...
About the Artist
Giovanni Battista Piranesi · 1720–1778
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–1778) was an Italian printmaker, architect, and antiquarian whose visionary etchings of Rome and imaginary prisons revolutionized architectural representation and profoundly influenced both Neoclassicism and Romanticism. Piranesi stands as one of the most important printmakers of the eighteenth century, fundamentally shaping European perceptions of ancient Rome an...