{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O955694"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O955694/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011EP0961/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011EP0961/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2011EP0961","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O955694/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O955694","accessionNumber":"29635A/14","objectType":"Print","titles":[{"title":"Partie Interieure de L’Amphitheatre Flavien Dit le Colisée","type":"Assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"Engraving presenting a view of the interior of the Colosseum, seemingly captured from either the north or south side, as evidenced by the unfinished section of the structure visible in the background. In the foreground, individuals wander through the ancient remains of the Roman amphitheater.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Jean Barbault","id":"AUTH331721"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"ink","id":"AAT15012"},{"text":"paper","id":"AAT14109"}],"techniques":[{"text":"Engraving","id":"AAT53225"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Prints","id":"THES48903"},{"text":"Topography","id":"THES252988"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2011EP0961"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLE","id":"THES49657"},"free":"","case":"Z","shelf":"12","box":"B"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"prints","id":"AAT41273"}],[{"text":"drawings","id":"AAT33973"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Italy ?","id":"x28927"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"18th century","earliest":"1700-01-01","latest":"1799-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"25.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"with mount"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"29.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"with mount"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Brabault del; Partie Interieure de L’Amphitheatre Flavien Dit le Colisée; Montagu Sculp. Pl. 24 pag. 32 (on the top right corner)","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"There is a collector mark on the print reading NAL (National Art Library). The stamp was used on drawings and prints that entered the museum’s collection between 1880 and 1900."}],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Engraving showing a partial view of the inerior of the Flavian Amphitheatre, or Colosseum, after a design by the French painter and engraver Jean Barbault (1718 - 1766) from Les Plus Beaux Monuments de Rome Ancienne ou Recueil des plus beaux Morceaux de l'Antiquité Romaine qui existent encore (ca. 1761), plate 24 page 32 and engraved by the Italian printmaker Domenico Montagù (active ca. 1750–76)","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"The engraving depicts a view of the interior of the Flavian Amphitheatre, known as the Colosseum. The construction of this monumental structure was initiated under Emperor Vespasian of the Flavian dynasty, around 69-79 AD, and later completed by his successor, Emperor Titus, between 79 and 81 AD.\n\nJean Barbault (1718 – 1762) was a French painter and engraver best known for his fantastical capricci. He trained under the painter John Restout II (1692-1768) in Paris before traveling to Rome as part of a scholarship from the Académie des Beaux-Arts, where he settled by the mid of the 18th century. By 1748 he was already established in a circle of Roman artists that included Paolo Anesi, Jean-Laurent Legeay, Philothée-Francois Duflos, and Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Barbault collaborated with Piranesi, making engraving for Varie Vedute di Roma Antica e Moderna, four of which were later included in his Recueil des Plus Beaux Morceaux de l'Antiquité Romaine qui Existent Encore. In 1756 they collaborated again on Piranesi’s Le Antichità Romane, and this work led him to produce a book of his own Les plus Beaux Monuments de Rome Ancienne, consisting of 128 plates drawn and partly engraved by Barbault. The printmakers Etienne Giraud, Freicenet, and Domenico Montagú engraved the rest of the drawings, and the book was printed by the publishing house of Bouchard and Gravier in 1761. Barbault's depictions of Rome are distinguished by his emphasis on the public spaces of the city, such as piazzas and broad streets, which he portrays as vast spaces with little human presence.\n\nLes Plus Beaux Monuments de Rome Ancienne ou Recueil des plus Beaux Morceaux de l'Antiquité Romaine qui Existent Encore is Barbault’s most important work and include a total of 128 engravings featuring views of Rome’s monuments and antique sculptures. The volume consists of 73 numbered plates, 29 full-page and 44 half-page. The first section (pl. 1-54) includes views of Roman monuments and architectural ruins, accompanied by descriptive texts in French. The second section (pl. 55-73) presents views of antique statue and bas-reliefs. In his descriptions of the monuments depicted in each plate, Barbault references not only the work of historians like Pliny the Elder and Bernard de Montfaucon, but also renderings of other artists who depicted the same monuments, notably those by Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Barbault designed the majority of the images and engraved circa 86 of them, including the vignettes on the title and dedication page. While Barbault seems to have executed many of the sculptural and relief fragments himself, Domenico Montagu (active circa 1750-1767) etched many of the large architectural views, contributing to a total of 52 images. It is worth noting that Montagu is also responsible for most of the etchings in Barbault's Les Plus Beaux Édifices des Rome Modernes, which was published posthumously by Bouchard et Gravier in 1763.\n\nBibliographic reference\n- Jacquot, Dominique, Galerie Heitz. Jean Barbault, 1718-1762: le théâtre de la vie italienne. Strasbourg: Musées de la Ville de Strasbourg, 2010.\n- Volle, Nathalie, Rosenberg, Pierre. Jean Barbault (1718-1762): Catalogue. Beauvais: Musée Départmental de l'Oise, 1974. \n- Michel, Olivier. Barbault, Jean. Oxford University Press, 2003. doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T006244."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["29635A/14"],"accessionNumberNum":"29635","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":null,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-10-02","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-30","availableToBook":false}}