The Piazza del Popolo (Veduta della Piazza del Popolo), from "Vedute di Roma"

The Piazza del Popolo (Veduta della Piazza del Popolo), from "Vedute di Roma"

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Until the construction of railways in Rome in the nineteenth century, visitors entered the city through the Piazza del Popolo. The area acquired its monumental profile under Pope Sixtus V, who oversaw the construction of twin churches opposite the gateway into the square and the placement of an Egyptian obelisk in the center. In Piranesi's view, the obelisk extends almost from top to bottom of the composition, dwarfing the spectators gesturing beneath it and the coaches that circulate nearby. Radiating into the distance are the three great avenues that lead - as Piranesi's caption reminds us - to three popular tourist destinations, the Piazza di Spagna, the Palazzo di Venezia, and the Porto di Ripetta.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Piazza del Popolo (Veduta della Piazza del Popolo), from "Vedute di Roma"The Piazza del Popolo (Veduta della Piazza del Popolo), from "Vedute di Roma"The Piazza del Popolo (Veduta della Piazza del Popolo), from "Vedute di Roma"The Piazza del Popolo (Veduta della Piazza del Popolo), from "Vedute di Roma"The Piazza del Popolo (Veduta della Piazza del Popolo), from "Vedute di Roma"

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.