The old Fish Market in Rome

Scenes with ancients ruins, especially in Italy, were very popular in Goethe’s day. They express reflection on and admiration for the past, and represent the increasing awareness of culture and history, dominant at the time. Calvi takes up the motif of ruins, showing a scene from the everyday life of the city on the Tiber. The atrium of the Porticus Octaviae – the only surviving part of the Circus Flaminius – was used as a fishmarket from the Middle Ages onwards, and forms the portico of the church of Sant’Angelo in Pescheria [fish-market]. Calvi renders in detail fragments of inscriptions, Corinthian columns with acanthus capitals and the structure of the brickwork. Through the vividly depicted staffage figures, he illustrates the bustling activity of the market.


DUCKE Astrid: Calvi Pompeo, The old Fish Market in Rome, object description for the exhibition "Masterworks. Residenzgalerie Salzburg" (23.2.-3.7.2022)