View of the Ancient Roman Forum engraving from 1704

The Magnificence of the Roman Forum and the Churches of Rome: a Historical View

The work is a fascinating engraving, of both artistic and historical value, which offers us an open window onto one of the most iconic and symbolic places of ancient Rome: the Roman Forum, accompanied by representations of the churches of Santi Luca e Martina and Santa Maria Nova, today Santa Francesca Romana. This piece, based on drawings and engravings by well-known 17th-century artists such as Lievin Cruyl and Giovanni Battista Falda, allows us to immerse ourselves in an era in which Rome, still burdened by the ruins of the past, was slowly regaining its glory through reinvention and reconstruction.

The main engraving, the one that dominates the work, presents a detailed and wide view of the Roman Forum, one of the most important public spaces of antiquity, used for centuries as the political, religious and economic center of imperial Rome. The perspective, based on a drawing by Lievin Cruyl, places us in a privileged observation point: the Capitoline Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome, which dominates the Forum from above.

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Looking south-east towards the Colosseum, we are immediately struck by the contrast between the architectural grandeur of the temples and the rural use of the area in the period depicted. In the foreground, in fact, we see the Campo Vaccino, a space that, over the centuries following the fall of the Roman Empire, was used as a pasture for livestock. The cattle that can be seen grazing in front of the Temple of Castor and Pollux are a direct reference to this transformation of the Forum, from the beating heart of Roman public life to a simple rural area, almost forgotten, in one of the lowest moments of its long history.

The Vaccine Field: Symbol of Decay and Rebirth

Campo Vaccino symbolically represents the decline of Rome after the fall of the Empire. For centuries, this once-resplendent site was reduced to an agricultural area, far from the cultural and political fervor that characterized it in the days of the Republic and the Empire. However, the image of cattle grazing where great Roman orators once gave fiery speeches is also a testament to Rome's resilience. Despite decay and abandonment, the Forum was never completely forgotten. Scholars, archaeologists, and artists of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, such as Cruyl and Falda, began to rediscover its significance, reconnecting with the past and starting a sort of cultural renaissance.

Behind the Curia, once the seat of the Roman Senate, you can see a row of houses, another testimony to the evolution of the area. These houses, built on top of the ancient ruins, symbolize the inevitable overlapping of eras and civilizations that characterizes the history of Rome. While ancient Rome collapsed, new layers of life and history took shape above it, creating an urban palimpsest unique in the world.

In the lower part of the engraving, we find representations of two important Roman churches, taken from the famous engravings of Giovanni Battista Falda. These views are not simple architectural representations, but real historical documents that tell us about the role and evolution of the city in the seventeenth century.

The church of Saints Luca and Martina, located right in the Roman Forum, is one of the most significant examples of Roman Baroque architecture. Rebuilt in 1635 by the architect Pietro da Cortona, it is a tribute to the art of the time and to the profound connection between ancient Rome and the Christian one. Its role is emblematic: it stands right in the center of the ancient beating heart of Rome, almost as if to demonstrate that the city, despite its evolution and transformation, continues to be a spiritual and cultural beacon for the world.

On the side, the engraving shows us the church of Santa Maria Nova, today known as Santa Francesca Romana. This church too, with its baroque lines, represents Rome's desire to reconcile itself with its past, while celebrating the present. Its bell tower, rising above the ancient ruins, is a perfect metaphor for the temporal stratification that characterizes the Eternal City. Ancient Rome and Christian Rome coexist, influence each other and merge in an unparalleled historical continuity.

The historical and cultural context: Rome in the 17th century

This engraving takes us directly into the 17th century, a time when Rome, under the papacy, was at the center of a great movement of cultural and artistic renewal. The Baroque period, in fact, was characterized by a rebirth of taste for the ancient, which translated into a desire to preserve and restore the remains of ancient Rome, but also into a desire to reinvent the city according to new artistic and religious ideals.

Under the pontificate of popes such as Urban VIII and Alexander VII, Rome was transformed into a gigantic construction site. Artists such as Bernini, Borromini and Pietro da Cortona himself worked to revive the city, uniting the pagan past with the Christian present in a continuous dialogue between the sacred and the profane, between ancient and modern. Falda and Cruyl's work fits perfectly into this context, representing a Rome in which ancient ruins coexist with sumptuous Baroque architecture.

An artistic and historical legacy

The engraving before us is not only a representation of Rome, but a journey through time, a testimony of how the city has changed, evolved and been reborn over the centuries. Through the eyes of artists like Cruyl and Falda, we can relive an era in which the past and the present blended together, creating a unique panorama of imposing ruins and magnificent new buildings.

The view of the Roman Forum, with the Campo Vaccino and the baroque churches, reminds us how Rome has been and continues to be a melting pot of history and culture. Every stone, every building, every ruin tells a story, not only of glory and power, but also of decadence and rebirth. It is this layering of meanings that makes Rome eternal, and that makes this engraving a precious document, capable of making us relive the grandeur and complexity of the Eternal City in one of its most significant moments.