Artwork Information

In Piranesi's day this tomb was believed to be that of the Horatii and Curatii brothers, but this has now been discounted. Its form is extremely unusual, architecturally, and it has been compared to the Etruscan cinerary urns that can be found at Volterra. The truncated cones sit on a high, square base of large blocks of peperino, a type of volcanic rock or tufa found in the Aiban Hills near Rome, which was used by early Romans as a building stone, and for the basins of fountains.