A fascinating vision of the Colosseum as it appeared at the end of the 1700s, before the great campaigns of excavation and restoration that modified its image and impact on the surrounding landscape.
[Leafy arcades. The Colosseum before archaeology] This volume was published for an original exhibition on the Colosseum, a goal and source of inspiration of generations of travelers, scholars and artists during the course of the traditional tour of formation and culture in Italy. It features the drawings and paintings of two French artists from the second half of the 1700s, Antoine Constantin and François-Marius Granet, depicting the Colosseum as it appeared before the excavations and restoration of the 1800s: covered with vegetation enveloping the remains, in a desolate area on the outskirts of the inhabited city. The documentation they have left us – overall views of the complex and the surrounding areas, picturesque glimpses through the ruins, architectural details – offers the sensation of a past that is as fascinating as it is distant from today’s reality.