The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 24, 2024

The Temple of Isis at Pompeii

The Temple of Isis at Pompeii

1788
(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

Description

Trained as a stage designer and architect, Desprez was a talented watercolorist. He collaborated with Francesco Piranesi—the son of the more celebrated printmaker Giovanni Piranesi (1720–1778)—by drawing views of Naples, Rome, and Pompeii that Piranesi etched. Desprez then completed the prints with watercolor. The scene of tourists enjoying the ruins at Pompeii demonstrates how interest in antiquity had been augmented by the archaeological excavations at Herculaneum (1737) and Pompeii (1748). The discovery of homes, furnishings, and personal artifacts revealed the domestic aspects of ancient life.
  • Hill-Stone, New York, NY
  • 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=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

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