CITY OF THE SOUL: Rome and The Romantics

A rare exhibition catalogue produced by the Morgan Library and Museum New York in 2016, generously illustrated with drawings, etchings, photographs, letters, colour photographs, sepia images, exquisite colour artworks and paintings such as the Arch of Constantine seen from the Colosseum, an albumen print of the Theatre of Marcellus, a panorama of Rome from the Piazza Montecavallo, the Girandola at Castel Sant'Angelo in a spectacular etching with colour washes of a firework display. Described by Byron as the City of the Soul, Rome has always inspired fervid imaginings and visionary renderings of itself and its past, and projected a romantic idea onto artists and writers. Its passion, imagination, individuality, transcendence and nonconformity has led to a thriving artistic community, particularly in the century between 1770 and 1870 when visitors experienced the Grand Tour to the onset of mass tourism. Here is every kind of encounter from letters and diary entries, poems, novels, prints, drawings, sketching, watercolours, oil sketches and the exciting new medium of photography, collectively constituting the portrait of a very special and particular place that has touched the very soul. Villas, gardens, fountains to speaking ruins, this is a beautiful visual celebration and text by a Princeton University lecturer. 224 large pages, 21.6 x 28cm. Very well illustrated, includes colour.
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