View of the Roman Forum

Description In creating this historical portrayal of the Roman Forum, Panini, the most celebrated Roman landscape painter of his time, eliminated some modern buildings in order not to obstruct his vista, which stretches from the Arch of Septimius Severus to the Column of the Temple of Saturn. Apparently in order to maximize interest, he also added monuments from miles away. The companion View of the Colosseum is handled in much the same way. The ancient structures are given new life by Rome's inhabitants--strolling gentlemen contemplating the antiquities, perhaps the tourists who will purchase such paintings as this, and gypsies and peasants who simply make the ruins their home. For more information on this painting, please see Federico Zeri's 1976 catalogue no. 410, pp. 520-521.

Exhibitions

• The Ruins of Rome. University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia; The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit. 1960-1961.
• The City: Images of Rome. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton. 1963.
• The Origins of the Italian Veduta. Brown University, Bell Gallery, List Art Center, Providence. 1978.
• A Renaissance Puzzle: Heemskerck's Abduction of Helen. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1993.
• A Magnificent Age: Masterpieces from the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte; The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2002-2004.

Provenance Tyrwhitt-Drake, Shardeloes, Amersham, Buckinghamshire [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Agnew, London [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; David Koetser, London and New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1954, by purchase.

Inscriptions [Transcription] Inscribed on the block of stone at the lower left corner: I.P.PANINI ROMAE|1747; [Transcription] On the architrave of the Temple of Saturn near the right edge: SENA[TVS] | INCENDI[O] CO[NSVMPTVM]; [Translation] The Senate destroyed by fire.

Credit Museum purchase, 1954