View of the Piazza Navona, Rome, with the church of St Agnese at left and Bernini's fountain in the middle

Art Historical Context

This 1693 etching captures the lively atmosphere of Rome’s Piazza Navona, one of the city’s most celebrated public spaces. On the left rises the church of Sant’Agnese in Agone, its Baroque façade newly completed, while Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s majestic Fountain of the Four Rivers dominates the center. The large sheet, measuring nearly 45 by 70 centimeters, allows the viewer to appreciate the square’s elongated shape—originally an ancient stadium—and the everyday activity of Romans strolling, conversing, and gathering around the fountain. Created through the delicate technique of etching, the print reflects the period’s growing interest in vedute, or topographical views, which served both as souvenirs for visitors and as records of Rome’s architectural splendor. The collaborative effort between Gomar Wouters and Domenico De Rossi, a prominent Roman publisher and engraver, ensured wide distribution across Europe. Such works helped shape the image of the Eternal City as a living museum of antiquity and Baroque innovation. Today, this impression in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection preserves a vivid moment when Piazza Navona functioned as both a stage for papal display and a vibrant civic heart, its fountains and churches embodying the artistic energy of late-seventeenth-century Rome.

About the Artist

Gomar Wouters|Domenico De Rossi (Flemish|Italian) · 1649 |1647 –1696 |1729

Flemish, Antwerp 1649 or 1658–after 1696|Italian, 1647–1729