Italy - Rome; Paolo Cacciatelli (1846 -1878) - Veduta del Teatro di Marcello a Roma - 1861-1880

The work offers an imposing and slightly angulated perspective of the exterior façade of the Theatre of Marcello, located in Rome in the ancient rione of Sant'Angelo. Cacciatelli chooses a close viewpoint that highlights the monumentality of the structure and the semicircular outline of the original Augustan-era façade.

The engraving faithfully documents the historical stratification of the monument, clearly showing how the surviving arches of the Roman theater form the foundations on which the upper building rests, transformed in the Renaissance period into Palazzo Savelli (later passed to the Orsini family) on the design of Baldassarre Peruzzi.

Scenes of genre (Macchiette)

To animate the architectural view and convey the flavor of daily life in nineteenth-century Rome, the artist places in the foreground several human figures, at the time described as "macchiette":
• On the left, a group of characters in nineteenth-century costume engaged in conversation along the street.
• In the center, a traditional carriage/wheeled cart drawn by horses with figures aboard, adding dynamism to the scene.
• In the background to the right, peasants can be glimpsed near an arched doorway of the theater, then occupied by shops and coopers (as suggested by the barrel visible near the entrance).

The sheet presents a sound surface with intact margins free of tears; a slight natural waviness of the paper and small white surface marks on the lower edge are noticeable.