Minneapolis Institute of Art
View of Flavian Amphitheater, called the Colosseum
Giovanni Battista PiranesiLinkedCulture matchlcp-4ee1b5daa952
- Date
- 1776
- Medium
- Etching and engraving
- Department
- European Art
- Institution
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Object ID
- 8853
From the Minneapolis Institute of Art record
Gladiator combats, wild-animal hunts, executions—all manner of spectacle took place inside the Colosseum, which could hold up to 80, 000 people. It was even filled with water to hold mock naval battles. After Rome’s decline, the Colosseum was seen as a ready source of building materials, and people plundered its great façade and interior. The quarrying was stopped in Piranesi’s time by Pope Benedict XIV, who mistakenly believed that the place was a site of Christian martyrdom. Italy, Europe
The authoritative record is held by Minneapolis Institute of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Get printable QR codesHide QR codes
Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.
Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- The William M. Ladd Collection Gift of Herschel V. Jones, 1916
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Minneapolis Institute of Art and other institutions.