A View of the Ruins of the Baths of Caracalla

1779–81

Giovanni Battista Lusieri

(Italian, 1750–1825)

Culture

Medium

Measurements

Support: 53.3 x 68.6 cm (21 x 27 in.); Matted: 66 x 86 cm (26 x 33 7/8 in.); Image: 50.9 x 65.7 cm (20 1/16 x 25 7/8 in.)

Credit Line

Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2022.93

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The artist Lusieri accompanied the British Lord Elgin to Athens in the late 1790s and participated in the dismantling of the Parthenon’s metope sculptures there, now famously called the Elgin marbles.

Description

Lusieri was known among his Grand Tour patrons for his meticulous technique and his originality: for example, his choice of an unusual view of the Baths of Caracalla, as here, taken from within the ancient site. With an astonishing commitment to the truthful depiction of nature and ruins, and an extreme awareness of the nuances of light at different times of day, he depicted the ruins in the late afternoon. The presence of figures emphasizes the massive scale of the ruins in the warm Italian sun in this significantly large, impressive sheet, a welcome souvenir to his patron, an English Lord, when he returned to England.