The Arch of Titus, Rome, with figures strolling amongst ruins

By the beginning of the eighteenth century, Vanvitelli was enjoying significant demand for his Roman vedute, in large part for their faithful, unidealized documentation of the city, which was so distinct from the generic Italianate landscapes of many of his seventeenth-century forbears. This carefully observed view shows the Arch of Titus, which was erected in A.D. 81-82 to honor the victories of Titus and Vespasian in the Judean War. Through the Arch on the left are the Farnese Gardens, contained behind Vignola’s sixteenth-century wall, which has since been demolished. Beyond that is the Campo Vaccino, and on the horizon the tower of the Campidoglio can been seen soaring above the trees.

Vanvitelli returned to the Arch of Titus on several other occasions: five are on canvas, one on copper and one is a tempera (see G. Briganti, Gaspar van Wittel, L. Laureati and L. Trezzani, eds., Milan, 1996, nos. 76-83). Of these, only one is of similar composition: a small canvas sold Sotheby’s, 3 December 1969, lot 34, now in a private collection (Briganti, op. cit., no. 83). Though the overall mise-en-scène is the same in both pictures, with the Arch of Titus shown slightly right of center, there are some architectural differences between the two and the staffage has also been changed significantly. In the present version, Vanvitelli has chosen to omit the Palazzina degli Orti Farnesiani, visible upper left in the ex-Sotheby's painting, and the arched ruins at center left have here been replaced with a simple brick wall. Of all the known versions of the composition, only the Walsingham Abbey picture, which is signed and dated 1714, is horizontal in format (Briganti, op. cit., no. 80).