Artwork Information

Piranesi produced these early etchings as the trophies of Octavian Augustus, not Marius, Domitian or Trajan as had been previously believed. Found embedded in the system of Roman acqueducts, the fragments were moved to the balustrade of the Capitol. Although Piranesi's thesis has since been disproved, the etchings influenced architects such as Robert Adam who reproduced details in the gilded stucco panels for Syon House, London. The artist records unusual aspects absent in the writings of Vetruvius, along with notes as to their specific location in Rome.