Rome, a view of the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine

The Colosseum dominates this scene, its broken arches and crumbling upper tier catching the afternoon light while the rest sits in shadow. Bernardo Bellotto painted views like this in the 1740s, working in the tradition of his famous uncle Canaletto, whose name he sometimes borrowed to boost his own sales across Europe. On the right stands the Arch of Constantine, and between the two monuments the ground opens into a wide, dusty stretch where tiny figures go about their day. A single lone column rises near the center, a leftover fragment of a Rome that had long since faded.

Bellotto specialized in these topographical cityscapes, called vedute, which appealed to wealthy travelers on the Grand Tour who wanted a painted souvenir of the great sites they had visited. He paid close attention to the weathered stone and the play of sun against the deep blue sky, and the small people scattered across the foreground give a sense of just how massive these ancient ruins really were. Notice the two men with a white horse near the Colosseum, a small human touch against the enormous weight of history behind them.