Prospetto Dell'Alma Città Di Roma (lower panel, fourth from the lower left)

Guiseppe Vasi

Prospetto Dell'Alma Città Di Roma is an original black and white etching by Giuseppe Vasi, done in 1765. The artwork consist of a set of twelve etchings depicting bird's-eye view of Rome from the Janiculum Hill. Overall dimensions of the 12 prints is 120 x 265 cm (47-1/4 v 104-5/16"), over eight and one half feet wide.

On the lower part is engraved the "Index of notable things divided into eight days" (Indice delle cose notabili diviso in otto giornate). On the lower center the large coat of arms refer to the arms of the dedicatee of the work,"Carlo III re delle Spagne." The original title was "Prospetto dell'Alma città di Roma visto dal monte Gianicolo."

This classic cityscape of Rome remains one of the most impressive etchings by the renowed Italian printmaker Giuseppe Vasi. The fascinating view of the mid-seventeenth century Rome finds its maximum point in this great panoramaic bird's eye of the city.

Giuseppe Vasi (1710-1782) was an engraver, architect and landscape artist. Between 1746 and 1761 Vasi published 10 volumes with 240 engravings of the monuments of Rome. In this period the Baroque period of Rome approached its end so that its prints constitute a sort of inventory. Among his students, there is Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Vasi's goal was the representation of the Rome of its time. For training Vasi was an architect and was, therefore, able to represent the monuments of Rome with precision in all details.