Roman Fish Market. Arch of Octavius

Ancient Rome's Portico of Octavia, built by Emperor Augustus in 23 B.C., gradually fell into ruin and became a fish market in the 12th century. By the time Albert Bierstadt traveled to Italy in 1857, Rome was defined largely by its historical roles in the Roman Empire and the Italian Renaissance. It was also the most important destination for wealthy tourists who made the Grand Tour of Europe to view the roots of western civilization.

Americans such as the stoic man clutching his red Rome guidebook, accompanied by his wary wife, considered themselves the heirs of ancient Greek and Roman ideals, emulating their democracies and architecture. Yet Bierstadt's painting documents the decline and fall of ancient Rome's monuments, while two famous antique statues, the "Sleeping Endymion" and the "Barberini Faun," are reincarnated in a sleeping man and the adjacent street sweeper. The fish-scale and scallop-shell frame motifs offer a playful pun on Bierstadt�s subject.