A Capriccio Of Roman Ruins and the Arch of Constantine
A Capriccio Of Roman Ruins and the Arch of Constantine c1755 by Giovanni Paolo Pannini (1691 – 1765); known as an architect and painter of his vistas of Rome, detailing the antiquities of that great city.
This architectural fantasy among Roman Ruins and the Arch of Constantine shows men women and children gathered near a fountain that have come to listen to a profit speak.
This is a retouched digital art old masters reproduction of a public domain image.
Info Below Derived From Wikipedia.org
Giovanni Paolo Panini or Giovanni Paolo Pannini was a painter and architect who worked in Rome and is primarily known as one of the vedutisti (“view painters”).
As a painter, Pannini is best known for his vistas of Rome, in which he took a particular interest in the city’s antiquities.
Among his most famous works are his view of the interior of the Pantheon (on behalf of Francesco Algarotti 1712 – 1764 – A Venetian Polymath), and his vedute paintings of picture galleries containing views of Rome.
Most of his works, especially those of ruins, have a fanciful and unreal embellishment characteristic of capriccio themes. In this they resemble the capricci of Italian Painter and Printmaker Marco Ricci (1676 – 1730).
Panini also painted portraits, including one of Pope Benedict XIV (born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini 1675 – 1758 – Head of the Catholic Church from 1740 – 1758).
In Rome, Panini earned a name for himself as a decorator of palaces. Some of his works included the Villa Patrizi c1719/25, the Palazzo de Carolis c1720, and the Seminario Romano c1721/22).
In 1719, Panini was admitted to the Congregazione dei Virtuosi al Pantheon. He taught in Rome at the Accademia di San Luca and the Académie de France, where he is said to have influenced Jean-Honoré Fragonard. In 1754, he served as the prince (director) of the Accademia di San Luca.