view in the Roman Forum

View in the Roman Forum, early 1650s

Oil on canvasexpand_more

Gift of Dr. Alfred Baderexpand_more  66.6

This realistic landscape is actually an architectural fantasy, or capriccio, created by Viviano Codazzi. It includes real ruins in the background, like the half-buried Arch of Septimius Severus and the Palazzo Senatorio in Rome. But the large ruin dominating the left foreground, with its row of Corinthian columns, is pure fiction. The painting was designed to lend a sense of grandeur to these architectural ruins, creating a setting more theatrical than pastoral. To make the scene more believable, Codazzi wanted to add figures, called staffage. But he was untrained in figure painting, so he hired another artist, Michelangelo Cerquozzi, to complete the work.

Conservation of this picture's frame was made possible by a generous contribution from Al and Dena Naylor through the Art Champions program.

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Details
Title
View in the Roman Forum
Artist Life
Italian (Rome), 1603–1670
Role
Artist
Accession Number
66.6
Provenance
Art market, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by 1965, as by Paolo Pannini; Alfred Bader, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (until 1966; given to Mia as by MIchelangelo Cerquozzi)
Curator Approved

This record is from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator, so may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.

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view in the Roman Forum