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| Nicolas Poussin Colosseum, Rome before 1665 drawing National Galleries of Scotland |
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| Nicolas Poussin Roman Forum before 1665 drawing National Galleries of Scotland |
from Decline and Fall
O stone so matched and massive, worked so well,
Who could believe it when the first brick fell?
Who could imagine the unlucky word
Would darken to the worldwide sigh we heard?
How our eyes wrenched together and held fast
Each face tightening to a chalky cast
(So poor a copy of one hour before).
Who could believe the gloom, the funnelled roar
Of cornice falling, forum falling, all
Falling? Or dream it fallen? Not a wall
With eaves to route the rain. The rivers swelled
Till roads groped in lakebottom. Nothing held
Clean edge or corner. Caking, the black flood
Left every luminous room tunnels of mud.
Earth shook: the columns walked, in midair clashed,
And the steep stone exploded as it crashed.
– John Frederick Nims (1954)
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| Jan van Ossenbeeck Merrymakers at the Grotto of Egeria, Rome ca. 1647-55 etching Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Willem van Nieulandt the Younger Flight into Egypt (with classical ruins) before 1635 etching Philadelphia Museum of Art |
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| Herman van Swanevelt Ruins of the Baths of Caracalla, Rome 1652 etching Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Lievin Cruyl Colosseum and Arch of Constantine, Rome, viewed from a paved terrace 1696 etching Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Anonymous Dutch printmaker Arch of Constantine, Rome ca. 1675-1711 etching Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Jacob van der Ulft Italian landscape with ruins before 1689 drawing Teylers Museum, Haarlem |
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| Jacob van der Ulft Classical cityscape before 1689 drawing Teylers Museum, Haarlem |
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| Jacob van der Ulft Italian harbor with classical buildings before 1689 drawing Teylers Museum, Haarlem |
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| Jacob van der Ulft S Maria del Sole, Rome before 1689 drawing Teylers Museum, Haarlem |
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| Jacob van der Ulft Italian procession among classical buildings before 1689 drawing Teylers Museum, Haarlem |
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| Jacob van der Ulft Italian harbor scene with classical buildings before 1689 drawing Teylers Museum, Haarlem |
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| Jacob van der Ulft Italian harbor scene with classical buildings and monument before 1689 drawing Teylers Museum, Haarlem |