2-745-756 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Temple of Isis at Pompeii, 1788. Trained as a stage designer and architect, Desprez was a talented watercolourist. He collaborated with Francesco Piranesi—the son of the more celebrated printmaker Giovanni Piranesi (1720-1778)—by drawing views of Naples, Rome, and Pompeii that Piranesi etched. Desprez then completed the prints with watercolour. The scene of tourists enjoying the ruins at Pompeii demonstrates how interest in antiquity had been augmented by the archaeological excavations at Herculaneum (1737) and Pompeii (1748). The discovery of homes, furnishings, and personal artifacts revealed the domestic aspects of ancient life.