View of the Forum Romanum

This view of the Roman Forum was one of Joli’s most popular and successful compositions. Known as the ‘Campo Vaccino’ since the end of the sixteenth century due to the herds of cows that grazed there, peasants sold their produce and watered their animals in the Forum until the mid-nineteenth century. The design, however, is framed by monuments from the Forum’s more glorious past: from left to right we see the temple of Antoninus and Faustina, the Basilica of Maxentius, the church of Santa Francesca Romana with the Colosseum behind, the Arch of Titus, the Palatine Hill and the Farnese gardens, erected under Pope Paul III, and to the right the church of Santa Maria Liberatrice, which was to be demolished in 1899.