Panini's Vision of Rome: A Rare Capriccio Masterpiece

Rome's ancient architectural treasures have captivate artists and travelers for centuries. Chief among ther is the Pantheon, built in the 2nd century AD. One of the most frequently depicted landmarks of the Eternal City, it boasts the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. Consecrated as the Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs in 609 AD, the Pantheon has miraculously withstood the passage of time and remains one of the best-preserved monuments of antiquity in Rome.

Giovanni Paolo Panini, the celebrated Baroque painter and architect, was among its most devoted admirers, depicting it in numerous works created for his elite clientele. He was a master of capricci-architectural fantasies that creatively combined ruins and landmarks in imaginative, fictional settings.

Renowned for his vedute of Rome and its surroundings, Panini documented the city's most iconic monuments with remarkable accuracy. He elevated the capriccio genre by juxtaposing true-to-life renderings of famous structures. In the present painting, A Capriccio with Figures Gathered Around the Obelisk of Augustus, a View of the Pantheon, the Statue of Marcus Aurelius and the Temple of Sybil, Tivoli, Panini combines recognizable sites in a fantastical composition, animated by staffage-figures added to provide scale and visual interest without serving as the painting's primary focus.

TO BE OFFERED NOVEMBER 4 | Giovanni Paolo Panini and Studio (Italian, 1691-1765) A Capriccio With Figures Gathered Around the Obelisk of Augustus, a View of the Pantheon, the Statue of Marcus Aurelius and the Temple of Sybil, Tivoli | $100,000 - 150,000

This work is a variant of a painting in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle (inv. 2857), while another version was sold at Christie's in 1994. Two additional versions, differing in scale and composition, are noted by Professor Ferdinando Arisi.

Offered in the Old Masters & 19th Century European Art sale on November 4 in Philadelphia, this painting presents a rare opportunity to acquire an exquisite masterpiece that returns to the market after nearly two decades in a distinguished private collection.

NEW YORK VIEWING: October 25-November 1

32 East 67th St, New York, NY

PHILADELPHIA VIEWING: November 1-3

2400 Market St, Philadelphia,