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• 1 2021-03-30T11:16:08-07:00 Plan of the Nymphaeum of Nero 7 Pianta del Ninfeo di Nerone plain 2024-10-25T07:57:51-07:00 Rappresentasi nella figura I il Ninfeo, di Nerone, e insieme lo Stadio, l’Odeo, ed i Templi della Gente Flavia, fabbricati da Domiziano. 1. Salita al Ninfeo. 2. Atrio con vestiboli, e cubicoli per varj usi. 3. Tempio di Nerone. 4. Piazza dinnanzi al Tempio. 5. Sala con emicicli per i conviti. 6. Stagno incavato nel terr(e)n vergine del Monte Celio, e che riceveva l’acqua da magnifiche fontane, ornate di Tritoni, cavalli marini, delfini, e gruppi di Statue. 7. Portici circolari situati sopra il medesimo Stagno. 8. Celle sul piano inferiore del Ninfeo. 9. Aquedotto del Ninfeo. 10. Uno degli archi dell’aquedotto, ove si legge l’avanzo della iscrizione rapportata nella fig(ura). II. e supplita nella figura III. colle lettere NERO secondo l’interpretazione la più probabile, che tante nè più nè meno doveano occuparne lo spazio, ov’ elle mancano, venendo così a comporre la parola NERONIONIANA, la quale, tutto che sia un solecismo per l’incremento delle due sillabe ONI, incompatibile ne’ secoli della latinità; può nondimeno esser ciò derivato dalla inavvedutezza degli artefici nel comporla. 11. Stadio di Domiziano. 12.Tribune situate al piano dello Stadio, delle quali si da la pianta in forma grande alla fig(ura). IV. Le medesime hanno al di dietro un’andito fattovi forse per isfogo dell’umidità che vi cagionavano le acque del Ninfeo, e del Monte Celio acciò queste non danneggiassero gli stucchi de’ quali erano adorne le stesse tribune al dinnanzi. 13. Tempio della Dea Pallade. 14. Tempio di Domiziano. 15. Tempio di Vespasiano. 16. Odeo. 17. Serraglio delle fiere fabbricato da Domiziano ad uso dell’Anfiteatro. 18. Fonte, o sia lago gia detto del Pastore. 19. Arco di Costantino. 20. Anfiteatro Flavio. 21. Aquedotto di Claudio. 22. Odierna Chiesa di S(anti) Gio(vanni) e Paolo. 23. Avanzi della Casa di Scauro. 24. Avanzi della Casa della Famiglia Anizia. 25. Avanzo degli alloggiamenti de Soldati pellegrini. 26. Altra parte dell’acquedo(t)to del Ninfeo con bottino. 27. Chiesa di S(anto) Stefano rotonda nel suo primiero essere.; Piranesi Archit(etto) dis(egnò) inc(ise). The Nymphaeum of Nero is represented in figure I, together with the Stadium, Odeon, and Temples of the Flavia family, built by Domitian;1. Ascent to the Nymphaeum. 2. Atrium with vestibules and small rooms for various uses. 3. Temple of Nero. 4. Piazza in front of the Temple. 5. Room with hemicycles for banquets. 6. Pond hollowed out in the virgin soil of the Caelian Hill, which received water from magnificent fountains adorned with Tritons, seahorses, dolphins, and groups of Statues. 7. Circular Porticoes situated above the Pond. 8. Rooms on the lower level. 9. Aqueduct of the Nymphaeum. 10. One of the arches of the aqueduct, where one reads the remnants of the inscription reproduced in figure II and additionally in figure III with the letters NERO, according to the most probable interpretation, since the number of letters could be no more and no less to fit the space where the letters are missing. They come together to form the word NERONIONIANA, which is a grammatical error due to the addition of the two syllables ONI, which is incompatible with that era of ancient Latin. In any case, this error might have been due to the carelessness of the authors in composing the inscription. 11. Stadium of Domitian. 12. Tribunes located on the same level as the Stadium, which are shown in a close-up of the plan in figure IV. They have a passageway behind them, possibly made to vent the humidity caused by the waters of the Nymphaeum and of the Caelian Hill so that it would not damage the stucco work that adorned the front of the galleries. 13. Temple of the Goddess Pallas. 4. Temple of Domitian. 15. Temple of Vespasian. 16. Odeon. 17. Cages of the Animals built by Domitian for the Amphitheater. 18. Fountain, or Lake of the Shepherd, as it was once called. 19. Arch of Constantine. 20. Flavian Amphitheater. 21. Aqueduct of Claudius. 22. Today, the Church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo. 23. Remains of the House of Scaurus. 24. Remains of the House of the Anicia Family. 25. Remains of the quarters of mercenary soldiers. 26. Another part of the aqueduct in the Nymphaeum with a reservoir. 27. Church of Santo Stefano Rotondo in its original state.; Designed and engraved by the Architect Piranesi.

  This plan, as well as the Plan of the Ancient Roman Forum and the Plan of the Capitoline Hill, creates the illusion of a three-dimensional stone bursting out of its etched frame, in the style of the Forma Urbis or Marble Plan. Of these plans, John Pinto notes that “Piranesi employs the conventions of the Marble Plan not merely to separate archaeological fact from imaginative fiction, but to signal his dual role as antiquary and designer” (Pinto 2012, 142). Piranesi also signals these roles by indicating scale, explaining numerous details, and orienting viewers with a compass rose. This image merges, in its visual illusion and its extensive detail, his artistry and knowledge.  
  
  The image depicts the plan of several monuments located between two of Rome’s seven hills, the Palatine and Caelian, and the Colosseum. As the caption explains, the subject is the Nymphaeum of Nero together with the Stadium, Odeon, and Temples of the Flavian family, built by Domitian (“Rappresentasi nella figura I il Ninfeo, di Nerone, e insieme lo Stadio, l’Odeo, ed i Templi della Gente Flavia, fabbricati da Domiziano”). In the first century CE, Emperor Nero initiated a major building project, including a temple of his own – his Domus Aurea or golden house – and a nymphaeum. The latter is a monument that consecrated nymphs and resembles a natural cave with flowing water. Therefore, Nero also had an aqueduct built, which Piranesi identifies in figure I, that provided the necessary water (9). Nero’s nymphaeum had, he specifies, “magnifiche fontane, ornate di Tritoni, cavalli marini, delfini, e gruppi di Statue” (6). He also identifies and describes elements of the nymphaeum (1-10, 26) and the surrounding buildings (11-25, 27). They were built under Domitian, the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty. Although not many years had passed between Nero’s death in 68 CE and the start of Domitian’s reign in 81 CE, there were as many as five emperors in the intervening years. Once Nero died, his building project was modified. Domitian, for instance, added many buildings himself. All of these structures come together in this image. 
  
  Besides the large slab of marble, three additional figures (F. II, F. III, and F. IV) and their related captions reveal Piranesi’s commitment to interpreting the evidence of inscriptions and architectural design. Striking is his extensive knowledge of the monuments, which includes his correction of a possible error in an ancient inscription shown in figures II and III (10) and his speculation that the passageway behind the tribunes located at the same level as the Stadium of Domitian, directly behind the waterworks shown in figure IV, was designed to preserve the adorning stucco work from humidity (12). Such corrections and interpretations serve Piranesi’s aim in Le Antichità Romane to prove his knowledge of ancient Rome and his status as an antiquarian. (ML)