San Lorenzo, Rome (in the Forum)

Lionel Arthur Lindsay

In 1926, Australian artist Lionel Arthur Lindsay traveled for the second time to Europe. Having attempted, and mostly failed, to create a series of architectural works while traveling on a shoestring budget in 1902, he had by now gained a reputation as a noted self-taught printmaker. Intending now to accomplish his dream of a series of ancient and modern European buildings, he traveled to Italy, Spain, Holland, and France, carrying a lightweight aluminum hand-press and several copper plates in his luggage. Despite a prolonged illness that followed him throughout the last leg of his journey, he was able to produce sixty-seven etchings, drypoints, and woodengravings, and he held a successful exhibit at Colnaghi’s on Bond Street in London in 1927.

This work, a depiction of the ancient Roman temple of Antonius and Faustina, is dated 1928. It may have been executed once Lindsay had returned to Australia - now as a highly sought-after artist whose depictions of ancient architecture were popular among fine print collectors throughout Australia. An impression of this image is included in the collection of the National Library of Australia, accession number 1663826.