# Capriccio of Classical Ruins [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [PANNINI, Giovanni Paolo]() - Date: 1701-1750 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 74 x 100 cm ## Commentary Pannini's mature manner, culminating in his easel works of the 1730s and 1740s, developed through an assimilation of a variety of influences, most notably his exposure to the work of Gaspare Vanvitelli, another master of Roman vedute, and Salvator Rosa. The present painting is a excellent example of how Pannini incorporated all these different influences and interpreted them in his own unique and impressive fashion. This capriccio of classical ruins includes the Temple of Antonius and Faustina, the Colosseum, the Basilica of Maxentius and the Temple of Venus and Rome. The architectural elements are accurate depictions of real sites, however, Pannini has removed them from their natural context and positioned them in his own order across the panoramic canvas. The scene is populated by figures: a man admiring the Farnese Hercules while others converse with washerwomen near a sculpted relief of a sacrifice in the foreground. ## Related artworks - [Alexander the Great at the Tomb of Achilles]() - [Alexander the Great Cutting the Gordian Knot]() - [Apostle Paul Preaching on the Ruins]() - [Architectural Capriccio]() - [Architectural Capriccio]() - [Belisarius at the Gate of Constantinople]() - [Capriccio of Classical Ruins]() - [Charles III at St Peter's]() - [Classical Ruins with Figures]() - [Departure of the Duc de Choiseul from the Piazza di San Pietro]() - [Expulsion of the Moneychangers from the Temple]() - [Gallery of Views of Ancient Rome]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()