Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome

Artist:Giovanni Paolo Panini (Italian, Piacenza 1691–1765 Rome)
Date:1757
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:67 3/4 x 90 1/2 in. (172.1 x 229.9 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Gwynne Andrews Fund, 1952

Ancient Rome is a pendant to Modern Rome and shows the most famous antique monuments in the city. It was commissioned by the Count de Stainville, later the Duke de Choiseul, who is at the center with a guidebook in hand. Panini shows himself behind the chair. The gentlemen are admiring a copy of an ancient fresco. The Pantheon, the Coliseum, Trajan's column, the Farnese Hercules, and the Laocoön may be identified. For the identification of the other monuments, visit metmuseum.org.

Provenance

Hubert Robert (until d. 1808; sale, Paillet, Paris, April 5, 1809, no. 9, as "Rome antique" and "Rome moderne," each 64 x 72 pouces [68 x 77 in.], purchased by Paillet before auction for Fr 2,801); ?[Alexandre Paillet, Paris, 1809–14; posthumous sale, Paris, June 2, 1814, no. 47, as "Rome antique" and "Rome moderne", each 64 x 72 pouces, for Fr 1,000]; ?Casimir Périer, Paris; Arnold Baruchson, Liverpool (in 1857); A. Murray (until 1877; sale, Christie's, March 17, 1877, no. 115, "Ancient Rome," £152.5.0, to Lesser; no. 116, "Renaissance Rome," £189.0.0 to Waters); [Sedelmeyer, Paris, in 1896]; Camille Groult, Paris (until d. 1908); Groult collection (1908–52; sale, Galerie Charpentier, Paris, March 21, 1952, nos. 87 ["Rome Antique," 52.63.1] and 88 ["Rome au Temps de la Renaissance," 52.63.2], to Cailleux for MMA)

Copyright Image
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