Art Institute of Chicago
Inside the Colosseum
Franz Ludwig Catel (German, 1778–1856)LinkedCulture matchlcp-2ae4f4fa653b
- Date
- c. 1823
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Culture
- Germany
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture of Europe
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Object ID
- 219254
From the Art Institute of Chicago record
A shaft of sunlight illuminates a group of figures dwarfed by the monumental architecture of the Colosseum, the ancient amphitheater in Rome. The building had fallen into disrepair for centuries until restorations began in 1822, the year before Franz Ludwig Catel made this painting. In the foreground, a figure identifiable as architect Giuseppe Valadier bows slightly while presenting plans to the red-stockinged Cardinal Ercole Consalvi at left. In the background, two workers carry a sack filled with rubble from the Colosseum’s depths, visually representing the labor involved in the project.
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Provenance & credit
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- Credit line
- Through prior gift of Mr. and Mrs. Chauncey B. Borland
Linked open data
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- Object type
- AAT300033618
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