Vicino al Circo di Caracalla
Medium
etching on laid paper [proof]
Dimensions
plate: 38.1 x 27.9 cm (15 x 11 in.) sheet: 39 x 49.2 cm (15 3/8 x 19 3/8 in.)
Classification
Portfolio
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
New Century Fund
Accession Number
2003.86.8
Art Historical Context
Johann Christian Reinhart’s 1797 etching *Vicino al Circo di Caracalla* captures a quiet corner of the Roman landscape near the ancient Circus of Caracalla. Created during the artist’s long residence in Italy, the print reflects the late-eighteenth-century fascination with classical ruins and the Italian countryside, subjects that appealed to travelers on the Grand Tour. Reinhart, a German draftsman and printmaker, specialized in such views, translating the weathered textures of ancient masonry and surrounding vegetation into delicate lines. Printed as a proof on laid paper, the etching revea...
About the Artist
Johann Christian Reinhart · 1761–1847
Johann Christian Reinhart (1761–1847) was a German painter and engraver who became one of the founding figures of German Romantic classical landscape painting, spending nearly six decades in Rome and transforming his adopted city into an inexhaustible subject. Born in Hof, Bavaria, on 24 January 1761, Reinhart initially followed his father into theological study before his passion for drawing took...