Through his use of perspective, framing, and trompe-l’œil in this image, Piranesi creates tensions between surface and depth on one hand and visual boundaries and entryways on the other. In this print the portico is framed by a brick arch to a striking effect that is enhanced by the recurring arches, also mirrored in the diagonal etching lines that comrise the sky the circular pattern of the clouds above the ruins.  
 
The ground-level perspective looking through an architectural frame, such as ruined arches or columns, appears throughout this volume. This type of vantage point can be observed in particular in his “View of the Second Remaining Corridors of the Second Floor of the Tepidarium of the Baths of Titus, Called the Seven Halls” and “Interior View of the Pronaos of the Pantheon.” This sunken perspective increases the dramatic air of the print by creating the impression that the viewer is being swept in and through the architectural frame—in this case a brick archway—and into the image. The fallen ruin that extends beyond the image frame and hovers over the word “portico” seems to emphasize the subject of the print.  
 
Bart Verschaffel has discussed the impediments and enticements that Piranesi’s large-scale Vedute di Roma create through their foreshortening and especially their textual captions and architectural rubble along the bottom edge. There are very few figures depicted within this print, perhaps to further encourage the viewer to better imagine themselves stepping into the frame. The few figures that do appear in the print stand on the fragment that breaks the image frame, drawing further attention to this intersection of visual and textual space. Two more figures far in the background nearly blend into the ruins; it is just possible to make out their gesture of pointing to the height of the brick wall in front of them, which draws attention to the scale of the ruins. A third and final figure, positioned at the bottom of the left-hand side of the main arch, gestures towards the length of the wall, pointing the viewer’s gaze through the arch into the frame. This print displays the alternations between spatial depths and printed surfaces that shape his larger vedute. (CBA)