Roma – Casa di Goethe

“The most beautiful and solemn cemetery I have ever beheld” declared the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Since the height of the Grand Tour, non-Catholic foreigners dying in Rome have been buried in front of the pyramid-tomb of Caius Cestius. This picturesque setting has attracted numerous painters, and also writers as diverse as Goethe, Henry James and Gabriele D’Annunzio. The exhibition features work by artists such as J.M.W. Turner, Jacques Sablet, Jakob Philipp Hackert and Ettore Roesler Franz. Many of the works have never been seen before in Italy. This unprecedented selection of artists’ views reveals the beauty and peace of this quiet corner of the Eternal City, explaining why it continues to appeal so strongly to visitors today.