Tomb of Cecilia Metella

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Tomb of Cecilia Metella

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Date
1762
Medium
Etching
Department
European Art
Institution
Minneapolis Institute of Art

This round ruin went from tomb to tollbooth. It still stands atop a hill along the Appian Way, about three miles south of the Colosseum. Originally over 70 feet tall and 96 feet wide, it had concrete walls 24 feet thick. As Piranesi noted on the tablet, it was built in the 1st century BCE to honor Caecilia Metella, “daughter of Roman consul Quintus Creticus and wife of Marcus Licinius Crassus.” The swallowtail-shaped battlements on top of the structure were added in the 1300s, when the tomb was converted into a fortress. The owners then used it to collect exorbitant tolls from travelers passing by on the Appian Way. Italy, Europe

View at Minneapolis Institute of Art ↗

The authoritative record is held by Minneapolis Institute of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.

Related across collections

Semantically similar works from Minneapolis Institute of Art and other institutions.

Via Appia Antica with the Tomb of Cecilia Metella

Via Appia Antica with the Tomb of Cecilia Metella

Getty Museum

Le Tombeau de Cecilia Metella sur la voie Appienne

Le Tombeau de Cecilia Metella sur la voie Appienne

Getty Museum

Tomb of Caecilia Metella, from Views of Rome

Tomb of Caecilia Metella, from Views of Rome

Art Institute of Chicago

Part of the facade of the tomb of Cecilia Metella

Part of the facade of the tomb of Cecilia Metella

Harvard Art Museums

Tomb of Cecilia Metella called Capo di Bove

Tomb of Cecilia Metella called Capo di Bove

Harvard Art Museums

[Tomb of Cecilia Metella]

[Tomb of Cecilia Metella]

Getty Museum

Tomb of Caecilia Metella called Capo di Bove [Ox Head], plate twenty from Some Views of Triumphal Arches and other monuments

Tomb of Caecilia Metella called Capo di Bove [Ox Head], plate twenty from Some Views of Triumphal Arches and other monuments

Art Institute of Chicago

The Tomb, called La Conocchia

The Tomb, called La Conocchia

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Bouw van de Tombe van Caecilia Metella te Rome

Bouw van de Tombe van Caecilia Metella te Rome

Rijksmuseum

The mausoleum of Cecilia Metella

The mausoleum of Cecilia Metella

Harvard Art Museums

View of the Remains of the Dining Room of Nero's Golden House, commonly called the Temple of Peace

View of the Remains of the Dining Room of Nero's Golden House, commonly called the Temple of Peace

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Tombe van Caecilia Metella te Rome

Tombe van Caecilia Metella te Rome

Rijksmuseum