Ruins of the Imperial Palaces in Rome

Joseph Anton Koch

1810 · Pen and black ink over graphite; squared in graphite; framing lines in brown ink · Drawings and Prints

Koch’s precise delineation—first in graphite, then reinforced in ink—of the Roman landscape in this drawing exemplifies the artist’s Neoclassical style of draftsmanship. He presents a view from the southeast that includes in the middle ground the Palaceof Severus, four arches of the Aqua Claudia, and the Arch of Constantine. In the distance lie the campanile of Santa Francesca Romana, the Torre delle Milizie, and, at the highest point, the Capitoline Hill. In 1810 Koch published his Vedute Romane, a series of twenty etchings, with number eighteen derived from this drawing.

Artist

Joseph Anton Koch

Date

1810

Medium

Pen and black ink over graphite; squared in graphite; framing lines in brown ink

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Purchase, David T. Schiff Gift, 2005