Untitled (Ruins of Roman Forum)

Photography and Media

c. 1867

Robert MacPherson
Scottish, 1811–1872

Abandoning medical studies in his native Edinburgh, Robert MacPherson traveled to Rome in 1840 to try his hand as a landscape painter. His move coincided with a rise in tourism to Italy, in particular to the country’s classical monuments. MacPherson took up photography in 1851 to capitalize on this burgeoning tourist trade, and he soon gained success as a landscape photographer producing deluxe views for British customers. MacPherson has carefully omitted signs of the present in this image of the Forum, such as traffic, local Italians, and commercial vendors, to focus instead on a mythic past for buyers eager to own a piece of Western civilization.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Photography and Media

Artist: Robert MacPherson
Title: Untitled (Ruins of Roman Forum)
Place: Scotland (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.: Made 1862–1872
Medium: Albumen print
Dimensions: Image/paper: 31.5 × 40.2 cm (12 7/16 × 15 7/8 in.); Mount: 46.4 × 64.1 cm (18 5/16 × 25 1/4 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of David C. and Sarajean Ruttenberg
Reference Number: 1978.1101
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/54467/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.