Cecilia Metella's grave. Beautiful etching from 1796 by Francesco Morelli

The Tomb of Cecilia Metella. A beautiful etching from 1796 by Francesco Morelli with figures in the foreground; it has a small tear at the bottom and has been trimmed at the edges.

.... "Today I went to the Nymphaeum of Egeria, then to the Baths of Caracalla and the Via Appia to see the ruined tombs and the best-preserved Cecilia Metella, which gives a proper concept of the solidity of the wall. These people worked for eternity and calculated everything, except for the destructive ferocity of those who came after and before whom everything had to fall"... thus J.W. Goethe, the traveler par excellence during the Grand Tour, describes this monument in 1786. 

François Morel was born around 1768 in Franche-Comté and died after 1830. He was a student of Volpato. He worked in Italy, especially in Rome, where he engraved religious themes and landscapes. See E. Benezit, vol. 9, p. 833, Grund 1999. 

It is presented in a Pompeian red passe-partout with an ebonized wooden frame.

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Empire style furniture is from the period between the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It originated from the reign of Napoleon, where significant similarities and references to Roman and Greek decorations were imposed.

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