  
  About the Artwork
  
  
  In its heyday, the Roman Forum was the site of triumphal processions, elections, gladiatorial matches, and criminal trials. By the time Giovanni Paolo Panini painted it in the eighteenth century, the sprawling Forum comprised only scattered architectural fragments and ruined structures. Panini documented the scene with notable accuracy, making a few small adjustments to the positions of the monuments. A corner of the Arch of Septimius Severus appears at the extreme left. Just beyond are the columns of the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina backed by the medieval Torre delle Milizie. Not without humor, Panini has even recorded the contemporary use of the Forum as a cow pasture. &acirc;&#128;&#139;C&acirc;&#128;&#139;attle at the center of the composition graze, sit, and calmly investigate their once-imposing historical surroundings.
  
  
  Title
  View of the Roman Forum
  
  
  Artwork Date
  1735
  
  Artist
  Giovanni Paolo Panini
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  1691-1765
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  Italian
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Oil on canvas
  
  
  Dimensions
  Unframed: 28 15/16 &Atilde;&#151; 53 1/8 inches (73.5 &Atilde;&#151; 135 cm)
  Framed: 38 1/8 &Atilde;&#151; 24 7/16 &Atilde;&#151; 4 3/8 inches (96.8 &Atilde;&#151; 62 &Atilde;&#151; 11.1 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  European Painting
  
  
  Credit
  Founders Society Purchase with funds from Mr. and Mrs. Edgar B. Whitcomb
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum&acirc;&#128;&#153;s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems&acirc;&#128;&#148;no longer assigned&acirc;&#128;&#148;that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  47.93
  
  
  Copyright
  Public Domain
  
  
  
