  About the Artwork
  
  
  In this fine example of an early Roman ruin painting, Giovanni Paolo Panini brought together elements of disparate monuments — from the Arch of Titus, the Temple of Vespasian, and the Forum of Nerva — to create a triumphal arch that is wholly the product of his imagination. Each individual element would have been readily recognizable to Panini’s well-traveled clientele​,​ who delighted in opportunities to test their knowledge of classical architecture. While such works were intended to pose witty challenges to the viewer, Panini has also introduced a serious element. The small figures who go blithely about their daily affairs in and around crumbling columns and plinths are a sobering reminder that, with the passage of time, all life will one day lie in ruins.
  
  
  Title
  Ruins of a Triumphal Arch in the Roman Campagna
  
  
  Artwork Date
  between 1717 and 1719
  
  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: 29 × 24 1/8 inches (73.7 × 61.3 cm)
  Framed: 36 1/2 × 32 × 3 inches (92.7 × 81.3 × 7.6 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  European Painting
  
  
  Credit
  Gift of James E. Scripps
  
  
  
  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’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—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  89.20
  
  
  Copyright
  Public Domain
