(Piacenza 1691–1765 Rome)
A Roman Capriccio of the Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine and Trajan’s Column with figures,
oil on canvas, 118 x 123,5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Probably commissioned by Richard Grenville, 2nd Earl Temple;
At Stowe House, Buckinghamshire, until sold by the 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, Christie’s 29th & 30th November, 1839, lot 104;
with Spink & Son Ltd by 1920;
sold by the following year to Percy Morley Horder (1870–1944), sale in May 1936;
acquired by Captain Thomas A. Renshaw (1899–1984);
thence by descent;
art market

Exhibited:
Norwich, Castle Museum, Eighteenth Century Italy and the Grand Tour, 23 May-27 July 1958, No. 40

Giovanni Paolo Panini was celebrated for his views of Roman ruins, especially by English aristocratic tourists for whom Classical Rome was the subject of their greatest artistic inspiration. As can be seen in the present painting, Panini often composed large capriccios of invented views tailored to suit the interests of his patrons.

The present scene shows a combination of the most celebrated sites in Rome. At the lower left-hand side is the Sarcophagus of Constantia, the daughter of the first Christian Emperor Constantine, which is now in the Vatican Museum. Immediately next to the Sarcophagus version of Lysippos’ statue of the weary Hercules can be seen. The columned façade behind Hercules is probably an idealized description of the Portico of the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, while in the left-hand background is the Colosseum. In the distance to the right is the Pyramid of Cestius, the tomb of the Roman magistrate Gaius Cestius. Beside the Pyramid is the Temple of Portunus, or as it was called in the 18th Century the Temple of Fortuna Virilis. Immediately next to the Temple is the Arch of Constantine and Trajan’s column is in the foreground to the right, commemorating the victories in the Dacian Wars.

This picture formerly hung at Stowe House in Buckinghamshire (see ill.). It was almost certainly commissioned by Richard Grenville, 2nd Earl Temple, when on his Grand Tour of Europe between 1728 and 1732. It is possible to interpret a connection between Temple’s surname and some of the buildings in the composition, and there are similarities with the neo-classical buildings in the gardens at Stowe. The picture was recorded at Stowe in a description of the house when it belonged to the 2nd Earl, published by Seeley and Hodgkinson in 1773. That publication lists two pictures as by Panini, one in the dining room, ‘over the chimney’, and another in the drawing room, again ‘over the chimney’. The slightly square format of the picture here must suggest that it was specifically commissioned to go above a fireplace.

After the Grenville family fortunes were dramatically reduced by George, 1st Marquess of Buckingham, the picture left Stowe at the sale of the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos’ at Christie’s, on 29th & 30th November 1839. There it was sold for £16.5 (lot 104), and also as by ‘Pannini’, It was titled ‘The Coloseum [sic.], portico of Faustina, and other Roman ruins, with sculpture and figures; a beautiful composition (companion to lot 105)’. Lot 105 was titled, ‘Classical ruins, with a philosopher addressing some soldiers and females; the figures very elegant’.

additional picture:
Stowe House, Buckinghamshire