Italy - Rome // Palazzo Mancini // Via del Corso; Wichnyther //Chereau - Vue de l'Académie Royale de Peinture &c. à Rome” - 1761-1780

“View of the Royal Academy of Painting &c. in Rome... in London at Wichnyther’s, and in Paris at Chereau’s, rue St. Jacques au Coq – A.P.D.R.”

• This is an etching technique on copper, subsequently hand-colored. This type of print (known as vues d’optique) was specifically designed with exaggerated perspective to be viewed inside the “Mondo Nuovo,” or zograscope, an optical device that gave images a three-dimensional effect and a sense of depth.
• Details of the scene: The building on the left displays the French royal coat of arms above the large central portal. The street is bustling with numerous figures of passersby and carriages in typical eighteenth-century dress, stretching into the distance along the street.