Temple de Venus et de Rome, from Les Plus Beaux Monuments de Rome Ancienne ou Recueil des plus beaux Morceaux de l'Antiquité Romaine qui existent encore

Temple de Venus et de Rome, from Les Plus Beaux Monuments de Rome Ancienne ou Recueil des plus beaux Morceaux de l'Antiquité Romaine qui existent encore

Jean Barbault

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Plate 4, View of the Temple of Venus and Roma, on the Velian Hill. In the foreground, an artist sketches the ruins and a group of figures gather around a well. Below this plate is a smaller image, titled "Bas relief de la frise du Temple de Pallas," with statues of five figures, including Neptune and Jupiter. These two images appear facing page 6, which starts the portion of text describing the Temple of Venus and Roma (continued on pages 7 and 8). This chapter discusses Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Famiano Nardini, and Alessandro Donati, three artists who also focused on views of Roman monuments.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Temple de Venus et de Rome, from Les Plus Beaux Monuments de Rome Ancienne ou Recueil des plus beaux Morceaux de l'Antiquité Romaine qui existent encoreTemple de Venus et de Rome, from Les Plus Beaux Monuments de Rome Ancienne ou Recueil des plus beaux Morceaux de l'Antiquité Romaine qui existent encoreTemple de Venus et de Rome, from Les Plus Beaux Monuments de Rome Ancienne ou Recueil des plus beaux Morceaux de l'Antiquité Romaine qui existent encoreTemple de Venus et de Rome, from Les Plus Beaux Monuments de Rome Ancienne ou Recueil des plus beaux Morceaux de l'Antiquité Romaine qui existent encoreTemple de Venus et de Rome, from Les Plus Beaux Monuments de Rome Ancienne ou Recueil des plus beaux Morceaux de l'Antiquité Romaine qui existent encore

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.