The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 21, 2025
The Tomb of Nero
1747–48
(Italian, 1720–1778)
publisher
(Italian, 1700-1850)
Image and Plate: 39.1 x 55.3 cm (15 3/8 x 21 3/4 in.); Sheet: 52.9 x 76.8 cm (20 13/16 x 30 1/4 in.)
Catalogue raisonné: Focillon 22 ; Robison 23 ; Wilton-Ely 23
Location: Not on view
Did You Know?
Popularly associated with the Emperor Nero in the 1700s, the monument the artist depicted has since been identified as the tomb of P. Vibius Maranus.Description
An ancient tomb, teeming with slithering snakes and overgrown vegetation, conjures the ruins of a strange and distant past in this print. The more lightly etched background appears faint against the jumble of darker lines in the foreground, as if the whole scene is slowly fading into the mist of time. Although the composition might seem to be one of pure imagination, the tomb it depicts was based on a real monument the artist had observed near Rome. Fascinated by classical antiquity, Giovanni Battista Piranesi evoked his own experience of seeing ruins, which he felt could not be conveyed by a more realistic portrayal.- ?–1975Leona E. Prasse [1896–1984], Rocky River, OH, given to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OHFebruary 7, 1975–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Imagination in the Age of Reason. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 28, 2024-March 2, 2025).Generous Donors: A Tribute to The Print Club of Cleveland. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 2-August 4, 1991).Year in Review: 1974. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 11-April 6, 1975).
- {{cite web|title=The Tomb of Nero|url=false|author=Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Giovanni Bouchard|year=1747–48|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1974.255