Giovanni Paolo Panini, 'Roman Ruins with Figures', about 1730
About the work
Overview
Panini painted a number of imaginary scenes in which a known monument is set within a fanciful arrangement of ruins. The crumbling stone pyramid here is based on the tomb of Caius Cestius in Rome, but all of the other elements are invented. Remnants of the city’s classical past fill the foreground: broken columns, a statue on a plinth, a damaged sarcophagus and, at the bottom left, a frieze decorated with a wolf, a symbol of Rome. The view is animated by figures who gather among the ruins.
This is probably one of Panini’s earlier works, painted in about 1730. He started his career as a stage designer and specialised mostly in view paintings of contemporary and ancient Rome. Although we don't know who first owned this picture, its small size and Roman subject matter might have made it desirable for British collectors on their travels around Europe.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Roman Ruins with Figures
- Artist
- Giovanni Paolo Panini
- Artist dates
- 1691 - 1765
- Date made
- about 1730
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 49.5 × 63.5 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed
- Acquisition credit
- Bequeathed by Lt.-Col. J.H. Ollney, 1837
- Inventory number
- NG138
- Location
- Room 37
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
- Frame
- 19th-century English Frame
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Michael Levey, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Italian Schools’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
-
2020Masterpieces from the National Gallery, LondonThe National Museum of Western Art18 June 2020 - 18 October 2020The National Museum of Art3 November 2020 - 31 January 2021
-
2021Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, LondonNational Gallery of Australia5 March 2021 - 14 June 2021
Bibliography
-
1956Levey, Michael, National Gallery Catalogues: The Eighteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1956
-
1986Levey, Michael, National Gallery Catalogues: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1986
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
Images
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