Minneapolis Institute of Art

Tempio detto volgarm.te di Giano A. Arco detto degl'Argentieri . . .

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Date

1771

Medium

Etching

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Janus was the Roman god of gates, beginnings, and transitions. This four-way arch was built to honor him around the year 400 CE. The site may have been selected to commemorate the beginning of Rome, for this is the spot where the she-wolf Lupa rescued the mythical infants Romulus and Remus, the abandoned twins said to have founded the city. The many niches encircling the exterior would have contained statues of different gods. In this print Piranesi pictured the structure’s upper story, which in his day was still partly intact. It was removed in 1837, under the mistaken belief that it was added much later, during medieval times. In fact, it was part of the original structure. Italy, Europe

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