The Temple of Isis at Pompeii (1788): Art, History and Details

The Temple of Isis at Pompeii (1788) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Francesco Piranesi (Italian, 1758–1810); Louis Jean Desprez (French, 1743–1804).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Buried under layers of volcanic ash since the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, the ancient Roman sites of Herculaneum and Pompeii were rediscovered and excavated in the 1700s. Remarkably well preserved, the two cities captured the imagination of Enlightenment Europe. Artists Francesco Piranesi and Louis Jean Desprez capitalized on the popularity of the ancient sites, creating an innovative souvenir of Pompeii. Etched by Piranesi, the prints were based on Desprez’s real-life observations. The latter artist hand colored and signed select impressions that the two advertised as dessins coloriés, or colored drawings, meant only for hommes de goût, or "men of taste."

Object facts

• Title: The Temple of Isis at Pompeii
• Date: 1788
• Creator attribution: Francesco Piranesi (Italian, 1758–1810); Louis Jean Desprez (French, 1743–1804)
• Culture: Italy
• Type: Print
• Technique: etching, hand colored with watercolor
• Dimensions: Sheet: 47.7 x 69.6 cm (18 3/4 x 27 3/8 in.); Secondary Support: 59.2 x 81.3 cm (23 5/16 x 32 in.)
• Collection: PR - Etching
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 2001.19

A detail from the museum

Francesco Piranesi visited Pompeii with his father in the 1770s.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Zuchtriegel, Gabriel, and Renata Picone, eds. Il Tempio Di Iside a Pompei: Conoscenza, Scavo, Restauro E Fruizione Inclusiva. [Naples]: Arte’m, 2025.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.