View of the Piazza Navona, Rome, with the church of St Agnese at left and Bernini's fountain in the middle
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 17 5/8 x 27 7/16 in. (44.7 x 69.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1953
Accession Number
53.601.331
Tags
Art Historical Context
This 1693 etching captures the lively atmosphere of Rome’s Piazza Navona, one of the city’s most celebrated public spaces. On the left rises the church of Sant’Agnese in Agone, its Baroque façade newly completed, while Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s majestic Fountain of the Four Rivers dominates the center. The large sheet, measuring nearly 45 by 70 centimeters, allows the viewer to appreciate the square’s elongated shape—originally an ancient stadium—and the everyday activity of Romans strolling, conversing, and gathering around the fountain. Created through the delicate technique of etching, the pr...
About the Artist
Gomar Wouters|Domenico De Rossi (Flemish|Italian) · 1649 |1647 –1696 |1729
Flemish, Antwerp 1649 or 1658–after 1696|Italian, 1647–1729