The Forum of Rome

Small but interesting exhibition at the Guildhall Art Gallery using a painting of the Forum in Rome by David Roberts from 1859 to examine his work and the use of the Forum in art.

This was quite a lot to do in one small room but it worked well. Roberts started as a scenery painter but moved into topographical scenes. He mainly worked in the Middle East but the show included a picture he did of the Lord Mayor’s Show at Westminster Bridge.

There were interesting photos of a digital 3D model which showed Rome in 315AD. These were shown with a Piranesi print. I am always fascinated to see how high the ground level was before the Forum was excavated.

It was great to see Martin Parr’s photographs of tourists in Rome from 2005. I love his work and it keeps cropping up in lots of unexpected shows.

Closed on 17 January 2018

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