View of Vaccino Campo 

Giovanni Battista Piranesi made this etching, View of the Campo Vaccino, to document Rome, likely in the mid-18th century. Piranesi was known for his detailed and dramatic views of the city. This image captures the Roman Forum, or Campo Vaccino, as a place of ruins, but also a site of everyday life. Through his art, he aimed to document the city, but also to evoke a sense of its past grandeur. The image creates meaning by juxtaposing ancient ruins with contemporary life. In 18th-century Rome, the Forum was not a carefully preserved archaeological site. You can see it was used as a pasture for grazing animals. This challenges the viewer to consider the relationship between past and present, and between the ideal and the real. Historians might use guidebooks, maps, and other historical documents to understand Piranesi's work and to understand Rome as a place with layers of history. The meaning of Piranesi's art is contingent on this social and institutional context.