VEDUTA OF THE VESTIBULE OF THE TEMPLE OF DOCLETIAN

This Cassas’ veduta of Peristyle (inv. no. 472) from 1802 is from the same series as the veduta of Pula. That same year in Paris he published his book Voyage pittoresque…, in which he and his collaborator Joseph Lavallee published copper-plate versions of watercolour drawings made during the 1782 eastern Adriatic voyages. The engraver of this map was Jean-Baptiste Réville. In addition to the architecturally recognizable and accurately displayed Vestibule, as the atrium or part of the hallway leading to the Peristyle, the central square of the imperial complex, and the temple of Jupiter in the western part of the sacral space, with a sphinx in the foreground, the author also indicates the activities of the inhabitants and their traditional costumes. This particular veduta shows the true meaning of putting together Cassas’ manual for exploring ancient monuments and architecture, which Voyage pittoresque… certainly was.