Tempel van Antoninus en Faustina te Rome 1748 - 1778

Giovanni Battista Piranesi made this etching of the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina in Rome. Piranesi was famous in the 18th century for his views of the city, and he was interested in the ways its ancient monuments were being transformed in his own time. Here we see the Roman temple, originally built in the 2nd century, but by Piranesi's time, repurposed as a Catholic church. He highlights the juxtaposition of classical grandeur and modern life. Notice the figures in contemporary dress, dwarfed by the scale of the ancient ruins, with carts and detritus around them. Piranesi’s Rome was a palimpsest, a place where different historical layers were visibly superimposed. His etchings speak to the way institutions and social structures evolve, adapt, and sometimes clash over time. Understanding this requires research into the political and religious history of Rome, exploring the complex relationship between the ancient world and the modern city. We see how artists help us to question how we value the past in the present.