The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

The Temple of Isis at Pompeii

1788
etched by

Francesco Piranesi

(Italian, 1758–1810)
hand-colored by

Louis Jean Desprez

(French, 1743–1804)
Italy, 18th century
etching, hand-colored with watercolor
Sheet: 47.7 x 69.6 cm (18 3/4 x 27 3/8 in.); Secondary Support: 59.2 x 81.3 cm (23 5/16 x 32 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 2001.19
Catalogue raisonné: Piranesi XXXII, 7; Wollin p. 113 no. 7 I/II
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Francesco Piranesi visited Pompeii with his father in the 1770s.

Description

Buried under layers of volcanic ash since the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, the ancient Roman sites of Herculaneum and Pompeii were rediscovered and excavated in the 1700s. Remarkably well preserved, the two cities captured the imagination of Enlightenment Europe. Artists Francesco Piranesi and Louis Jean Desprez capitalized on the popularity of the ancient sites, creating an innovative souvenir of Pompeii. Etched by Piranesi, the prints were based on Desprez’s real-life observations. The latter artist hand colored and signed select impressions that the two advertised as dessins coloriés, or colored drawings, meant only for hommes de goût, or "men of taste."
  • ?–2001
    (Hill-Stone, New York, NY, sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH)
    March 5, 2001–
    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).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art (09/ 12/2012 - 01/07/2013 Getty Villa Malibu, CA; 02/24/2013 - 07/07/2013 Cleveland Museum of Art); "The Last Days of Pompeii: Decadence, Apocalypse, Resurrection"
    The Last Days of Pompeii: Decadence, Apocalypse, Resurrection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 24-July 7, 2013).
    Inventive Impressions: 18th- and 19-Century French Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26-October 28, 2001).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art; 8/26/01-10/28/01. "Inventive Impressions: 18th- and 19th-Century French Prints".
  • {{cite web|title=The Temple of Isis at Pompeii|url=false|author=Francesco Piranesi, Louis Jean Desprez|year=1788|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2001.19