Inside the Colosseum

CC0 Public Domain Designation

c. 1823

Franz Ludwig Catel (German, 1778–1856)

A shaft of sunlight illuminates a group of figures dwarfed by the monumental architecture of the Colosseum, the ancient amphitheater in Rome. The building had fallen into disrepair for centuries until restorations began in 1822, the year before Franz Ludwig Catel made this painting.

In the foreground, a figure identifiable as architect Giuseppe Valadier bows slightly while presenting plans to the red-stockinged Cardinal Ercole Consalvi at left. In the background, two workers carry a sack filled with rubble from the Colosseum’s depths, visually representing the labor involved in the project.

Status: On View, Gallery 221
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist: Franz Ludwig Catel
Title: Inside the Colosseum
Place: Germany (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1818–1828
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 100.4 × 137.5 cm (39 1/2 × 58 1/4 in.); Framed: 125 × 161 cm (49 × 63 in.)
Credit Line: Through prior gift of Mr. and Mrs. Chauncey B. Borland
Reference Number: 2013.1094
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/219254/manifest.json

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.