(Amersfoort 1653–1736 Rome)
The Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine, Rome,
oil on canvas, 27 x 48.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
with Salomon Gallery, Milan, 1989;
with Cesare Lampronti Gallery, Rome, 1991;
Private European collection

Exhibited:
Rome, Galleria Cesare Lampronti, Vedute e paesaggi italiani ed europei dal XVI al XVII secolo, 26 February – 10 April 1991, cat. no. 29;
Rome, Anfiteatro Flavio, Colosseo. Un’icona, 8 March 2017 – 7 January 2018

Literature:
G. Sestieri, in: Vedute e paesaggi italiani ed europei dal XVI al XVII secolo, exhibition catalogue, ed. by G. Sestieri, Rome 1991, p. 54, cat. no. 29 (as Gaspar van Wittel);
L. Salerno, I pittori di vedute in Italia (1580-1830), Rome 1991, p. 78, cat. no. 16 (as Gaspar van Wittel);
G. Briganti, Gaspar van Wittel, ed. by L. Laureati, L. Trezzani, Milan 1996, pp. 154-155, cat. no. 60 (as Gaspar van Wittel);
N. Giustozzi, in: The Colosseum book, exhibition catalogue, ed. by N. Giustozzi, Milan 2017, p. 119 (as Gaspar van Wittel)

Gaspar van Wittel, best known by his Italianised name Vanvitelli, was an innovator in the eighteenth-century phenomenon of view painting. This view, painted in Rome, represents the city in which the artist’s reputation flourished as a leading vedutista or topographical painter.

The scene is dominated by the Colosseum, one of Rome’s most iconic structures, while the Arch of Constantine, on the right, plays a decidedly subordinate role. The view-point is taken from the end of the modern-day via dei Fori Imperiali. In the distance, various other sites can be clearly identified: on the right for example, beyond the Arch of Constantine, the apse and bell-tower of the ancient Basilica of San Giovanni e Paolo can be seen, and on the far right, the brick arches of the the Acqua Claudia aqueduct. Before the Arch of Constantine, stands the Meta Sudans, a large conical fountain built in the first century AD which had fallen into ruin and was finally demolished in 1936.

The present painting gives a vivid impression of the area at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Against a background of ancient and modern buildings Vanvitelli animates the urban landscape of his time with figures going about their daily activity. His celebrated renderings of the most famous monuments of antiquity, enlivened by contemporary elements, commanded great interest both among Roman collectors, and visiting Grand Tourists who wished to record their visit.

Several versions of this view by Vanvitelli are known and two are dated, one 1703 and the other 1716 (see G. Briganti in literature, pp. 151-155, nos. 54-60). However, they all have minor differences to one another. In the present painting, which can be dated to the final years of Vanvitelli’s career, there are fewer ruins in the foreground and the point of view appears to be a little advanced. Vanvitelli contributed significantly to the diffusion of the image of the Colosseum which during the eighteenth century became emblematic of the city of Rome.