Cleveland Museum of Art

The Temple of Isis at Pompeii

Francesco Piranesi

Date

1788

Medium

etching, hand-colored with watercolor

Culture

Italy, 18th century

Department

Prints

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Buried under layers of volcanic ash since the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, the ancient Roman sites of Herculaneum and Pompeii were rediscovered and excavated in the 1700s. Remarkably well preserved, the two cities captured the imagination of Enlightenment Europe. Artists Francesco Piranesi and Louis Jean Desprez capitalized on the popularity of the ancient sites, creating an innovative souvenir of Pompeii. Etched by Piranesi, the prints were based on Desprez’s real-life observations. The latter artist hand colored and signed select impressions that the two advertised as dessins coloriés , or colored drawings, meant only for hommes de goût , or "men of taste." Francesco Piranesi visited Pompeii with his father in the 1770s.

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