The wide-open space beyond this crumbling arch is remarkable, and in the eighteenth century, an invention. This is one of Piranesi’s many imaginary removals of modern structures to make way for the ancient remains, in this case, the early medieval church of Saints Vito and Modesto. An almost contemporary (1761) etching by Guiseppe Vasi (1710 - 1782) shows the structures that Piranesi has omitted (below). Now, a modern visitor to Rome would encounter this monument as a covered passageway in a small street, near the buzz of the environs of Stazione Termini. 
The dominance of the sky and almost bucolic impression, especially if we identify the small figures as agricultural laborers, is unrealistic, which suggests the removal of the walls on either side that creates a broader vista is deliberate. This approach is in stark contrast to another view of this arch in Piranesi’s later Alcune Vedute di Archi Trionfali ed altri monumenti inalzati da Romani parte de quali si veggono in Roma e parte per l'Italia of 1792. There, the arch is directly flanked by contemporary structures, and its location within the city is emphasized, which underscores the choices to exaggerate antiquity’s dominant presence in contemporary Rome made here. In this view, though blocks of stone remain in line with the base of the arch, and the foliage framing the scene to right and left hint at the wall’s presence, the focus is to show the context of the structures beyond. These structures, all annotated, are various segments of an aqueduct and apparatus for the water supply. We appear to be looking south and east, outside and beyond the city of Rome, the marching arches of the Neronian additions to the Acqua Claudia drawing the eye further into the image and far into the distance. Even in an image dominated by an entirely different kind of monument, Piranesi’s fascination with water architecture looms large. 
  
That said, the arch itself does in fact loom largest, surrounded by the light of a large white cloud, its size emphasized by the staffage figures around its base. The rustic appearance of the masonry of the lower courses lends weight and heaviness to the bulk, and the depth of the arch underscores its solidity. A small nod to its antiquity, and a slight hint of its vulnerability, is offered by the crack within the attic story and cornice. On a more technical note, this etching is also a bit crumbling. The copperplate had, by the time the Didot edition was printed in the 1830s, been reprinted so many times that the ink is smeared and dense, and the copper was saturated with the acid, which is visible on the right side. These effects, although they are entirely separate from Piranesi’s intentions, remain notable features of this edition of the etching. (PC)