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<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Rome seen by a 1905 armchair traveller</TITLE> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META NAME="description" CONTENT="A description of some lost corners of Rome in the illustrations by Alberto Pisa and other painters"> <META NAME="name" CONTENT="Lost Rome in 1905 illustrations"> <META NAME="author" CONTENT="romeartlover"> <META NAME="generator" CONTENT="FreeFormEditor 1.0"> <style>body, html { margin:0; padding:0; color:#0D1138; background:#a7a09a; } #wrap { width:960px; margin:0 auto; padding:0; background:#F0EA92; } #header { background-image: url("Bghall.jpg");} #nav { background:#F0EA92; } #main { background:#F0EA92; padding:0; } #sidebar { background:#cc9; } #footer { background:#cc9; } #main { float:left; width:200px; background-image: url("Bghall.jpg"); } #sidebar { float:right; width:760px; background-image: url("Bgsalmon.jpg"); } #footer { clear:both; background:#cc9; } </style><link rel="stylesheet" href="prova2.css"> </HEAD> <body> <div id="wrap"> <div id="header"></div> <div id="nav"></div> <div id="main"></div> <div id="sidebar"></div> <div id="footer"></div> </div> <div id="wrap"> <div id="header"><div class="boxed"><h1><em>Rome in the Footsteps of an XVIIIth Century Traveller</em></h1></div></div> <div id="nav"> <ul class="nav site-nav"> <li class="flyout"><a href=#>About this Website</a> <ul class="flyout-content nav stacked"> <li><a href="index.html">Home</a></li> <li><a href="Romeartlover.html">About & Feedback</a></li> <li><a href="Hallfame.html">Hall of Fame</a></li> <li><a href="Biblio.html">Bibliography</a></li> <li><a href="Glossary.html">Glossary</a></li> </ul> <li class="flyout"> <a href="#">Vasi's Roman Views</a>  <ul class="flyout-content nav stacked"> <li><a href="Books.html">Rome in 10 Books</a></li> <li><a href="View.htm">View of Rome</a></li> <li><a href="Map.html">Map of Rome</a></li> <li class="flyout-alt"><a href="#">Other Views</a>  <ul class="flyout-content nav stacked"> <li><a href="Vasigrs1.html">Roman Forum</a></li> <li><a href="Vasigrs4.html">The Vatican</a></li> <li><a href="Vasigrs2.html">Aventine Hill</a></li> <li><a href="Vasigrs3.html">S. 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Write to <a href="mailto:romapip@quipo.it">romapip@quipo.it</a>.<p class="stacco"> <a href="New.htm"><img class="displayed" src="Newnuovo.jpg" title="See the most recent additions to this website" height=135 width=180></a> <p class="stacco"><a href="superind.html"><img class="displayed" src="Sitemap.jpg" height=135 width=180 title="See a detailed list of this website pages"></a></p> <p class="stacco">Notes:<p class="stacco">Page revised in February 2023. </div> </div> <div id="sidebar"><div class="boxed"> <img src="Minipisa.jpg" width=220 height=120 title="Le Colonnacce"><em><strong><span> - Roma Sparita (Lost Rome)</span><br>   (a woman at <a href="Vasi53m.htm#Today">le Colonnacce</a> by Alberto Pisa)</em> <p><p class="stacco"> <em>Roma Sparita</em> (sparita = disappeared, lost) is the title usually given to a series of 120 water-colours by Ettore Roesler Franz, a Roman painter and photographer. In the 1880s he devoted himself to recording those parts of Rome which were being pulled down as a consequence of the new role acquired by Rome after the completion of the Italian unification process.<br> There are several web sites showing the water-colours by Roesler Franz and providing information on him.<br> Roesler Franz was not the only one who was fascinated by the disappearing aspects of Rome: this page shows some corners of Rome which do not exist any longer or have been significantly modified as portrayed in illustrations by other painters and engravers.<br> One driving force behind the changes occurred in the 1880s was the desire to isolate the monuments of ancient Rome from the medieval, Renaissance and Baroque additions and modifications. Examples of restoration of ancient monuments had already occurred in the previous centuries, but they were limited to a restricted number of monuments (e.g. <a href="Vasi11.html#Piramide">Piramide di Caio Cestio</a>, <a href="Vasi33.htm#Colosseum">Colosseo</a>, <a href="Vasi32.html#Tito">Arco di Tito</a>, <a href="Vasi33a.htm#Arco di Costantino">Arco di Costantino</a> and <a href="Vasi38.html#Column">Colonna Traiana</a>). <p class="stacco"><a name="Colonnacce"></a> <img class="displayed" SRC="Pisa45.jpg" style="border:5px solid DarkGoldenRod" title="Le Colonnacce" height=440 width=730> <em><h2><a href="Vasi150.html#Arco">Arco de' Pantani</a> (left) and le Colonnacce (right) by Alberto Pisa (1905); you may wish to see a <a href="Markino1.html#Pantani">1909 watercolour by Yoshio Markino depicting Arco de' Pantani</a> and other paintings by Pisa illustrating <a href="Pompeii10.html">Pompeii</a> and <a href="Sicily2.html">Sicily</a></h2></em> <p class="stacco"> The area of the Roman and Imperial Fora was surrounded by hills and it was often subject to floods. The ancient Romans built a very efficient sewage system to drain the water and convey it to the Tiber. The system was damaged and eventually abandoned in the VIth century. Because of the floods the level of the ground in the area gradually rose in the following centuries to the point where only the upper part of the remaining temples was above the ground. While the Roman Forum was completely excavated by the end of the XIXth century, the Imperial Fora (to which the images above belong) were excavated in the 1930s. <p class="stacco"> <img class="displayed" SRC="Pisa42.jpg" title="S. Lorenzo in Miranda" style="border:5px solid DarkGoldenRod" height=440 width=730> <h2><em><a href="Vasi32.html#Cosmo">SS. Cosma e Damiano (Tempio di Romolo)</a> (left) and <a href="Vasi32.html#Lorenzo">S. Lorenzo in Miranda (Tempio di Antonino e Faustina)</a> (right)</a> (from Francis Wey - Rome, its churches, monuments, art and antiquities - 1903 illustrated edition)</em></h2> <p class="stacco"> Initially the XIXth century excavations tried to find a compromise between the desire to bring to light the lower parts of the ancient temples and that of retaining the access to the monument at the modern ground level. Tempio di Antonino e Faustina/S. Lorenzo in Miranda in the Roman Forum is a striking example of a combination between an ancient temple and a Baroque church. The lower parts of the columns and the steps leading to the temple were excavated but a small bridge allowed access to the church, the floor of which is at a higher level than that of the temple. The compromise lasted only a few years and eventually the whole Roman Forum became an archaeological area; the church can now be accessed only from the rear door and the same applies to SS. Cosma e Damiano. <p class="stacco"><a name="Storia21"></a> <img class="displayed" SRC="Pisa43.jpg" title="The Ghetto" style="border:5px solid DarkGoldenRod" height=440 width=730> <em><h2><a href="Vasi93.html#Ponte">Ponte Quattro Capi and the Ghetto</a> (from Wey)</em></h2> <p class="stacco"> Hygiene was another driving force behind the changes occurred in Rome in the 1880s. <a href="Storia21.html#Paul">Pope Paul IV</a> in 1556 segregated the Jews in a fraction of <a href="Risangel.html#Wey">Rione S. Angelo</a> called Ghetto. Its inhabitants were soon forced to add storeys to the existing buildings to accommodate the growing population of the community. The precarious and unhealthy living conditions in the Ghetto were described by many XIXth century travellers who reproached the Papal government for persisting in a practice abandoned in all other European developed countries. The tall buildings of the Ghetto were pulled down in 1888. <P class="stacco"><a name="Farnese"></a> <img class="displayed" SRC="Pisa44.jpg" title="The Tiber near Palazzo Farnese" style="border:5px solid DarkGoldenRod" height=440 width=730> <em><h2><a href="Vasi87b.htm#The Plate">The Tiber near Palazzo Farnese</a> (from Wey)</em></h2> <p class="stacco"> Hygienic worries were behind the decision to drastically modify the banks of the Tiber by erecting high walls to prevent floods. This led to the disappearance of gardens, small beaches, ferries and the remaining stretches of the ancient Roman walls along the river. <p class="stacco"><a name="Montanara"></a> <img class="displayed" SRC="Pisa46.jpg" title="Teatro di Marcello" style="border:5px solid DarkGoldenRod" height=440 width=730> <em><h2>(left) <a href="Vasi30.htm#Storia20">Teatro di Marcello</a> by Alberto Pisa (1905); (right) <a href="Vasi28a.htm#Today">Portico di Ottavia</a> (from Wey)</em></h2> <p class="stacco"> Roman monuments were turned into churches, palaces, monasteries, castles, theatres, but perhaps the most amazing change of use occurred to Teatro di Marcello, the arches of which nested a row of small shops, and to Portico di Ottavia which housed a fish market. <p class="stacco"> <img class="displayed" SRC="Pisa41.jpg" title="Portico di Ottavia" style="border:5px solid DarkGoldenRod" height=440 width=730> <em><h2>The fish market at Portico di Ottavia</em></h2> <p class="stacco"> Other pages of this section:<br><a href="Pisa4.html">Roman Forum</a><br><a href="Pisa1.html">Interiors of Churches</a><br><a href="Pisa3.html">Tivoli</a><br><a href="Pisa5.html">Subiaco</a> <br> </div> </div> <div id="footer"><div class="boxed"><p class="stacco"><h2>Other pages/sections which might be of interest to you:</h2>                                      <a href="Bompiani.html"><img src="Minibomp.jpg" align=center width=220 height=120 title="A Family of Painters"></a><a href="Umbereco.html"><img src="Minihist.jpg" align=center width=220 height=120 title="Abridged History of Rome"></a><a href="Travellers.html"><img src="Minitrav.jpg" align=center width=220 height=120 title="Excerpts from travel books"></a><h2>See you at another page of this website!</h2></p></div></div></body> </HTML>