This section considers how the physical traces of the past are transformed into ruins, sites that are endowed with a particular aesthetic value or historical meaning.

Anonymous/Roman ruins at Mainz, Germany
 
Johann Huttich
German, 1480(?)–1544
Roman ruins at Mainz, Germany
Woodcut from Johann Huttich, Collectanea antiquitatum in urbe atque agro Moguntino repertarum
Mainz: Ioannis Schoeffer, 1525
85-B26875

Anonymous/Imaginary ruins with arcade
 
Anonymous
Imaginary ruins with arcade
Woodcut from Sebastiano Serlio, Tutte l'opere d'architettura
Venice: Francesco Marcolino da Forli, 1540
85-B6491

Estienne/Anatomical inset, corpse resting on ruins
 
Charles Estienne
French, 1504(?)–1564
Anatomical inset, corpse resting on ruins
Woodcut from De dissectione partium corporis humani
Paris: Apud Simonem Colinæum, 1545
84-B31171

Sadeler/Interior of the Baths of Caracalla, Rome
 
Marco Sadeler
German, active early seventeenth century
Interior of the Baths of Caracalla, Rome
Engraving from Aegidius Sadeler, Vestigi delle antichità di Roma Tivoli Pozzuolo et altri luochi
Rome: Gio. Iacomo de Rossi, 1660
85-B14694

Piranesi/Ruins of an ancient tomb and aqueduct
 
Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Italian, 1720–1778
Ruins of an ancient tomb and aqueduct
circa 1740s
Etching
900153B*

Piranesi/Sepulchral urn of Marcus Agrippa
 
Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Italian, 1720–1778
Sepulchral urn of Marcus Agrippa
circa 1740s
Etching
900153B*

Charpentier/Ruins of classical architecture and tomb
 
René Jacques Charpentier
French, 1733–1770
Ruins of classical architecture and tomb
Engraving from Jacques-François Blondel, Livre nouveau; ou, Règles des cinq ordres d'architecture
Paris: Chés Petit, 1767
93-B6777

Le Rouge/Cross section of column house
 
Georges-Louis Le Rouge
French, active late eighteenth century
Cross section of column house, artificial ruin in the Désert de Retz, France
Engraving from Détail des nouveaux jardins à la mode
Paris: Chez Le Rouge, circa 1776–1787
88-B1922

Le Rouge/Column house, artificial ruin in the Desert de Retz, France
 
Georges-Louis Le Rouge
French, active late eighteenth century
Column house, artificial ruin in the Désert de Retz, France
Engraving from Détail des nouveaux jardins à la mode
Paris: Chez Le Rouge, circa 1776–1787
88-B1922

MacKenzie/Theater at Patara, Turkey
 
Frederick MacKenzie
British, 1788(?)–1854
Theater at Patara, Turkey
circa 1840
Drawing, ink and wash, after a sketch by William Gell
840199*

MacKenzie/Propylon at Patara, Turkey
 
Frederick MacKenzie
British, 1788(?)–1854
Propylon at Patara, Turkey
circa 1840
Drawing, ink and wash, after a sketch by William Gell
840199*

Fenton/Tintern Abbey, England
 
Roger Fenton
British, 1819–1869
Tintern Abbey, England
circa late 1850s–1862
Albumen print
96.R.34

Frith/Fountains Abbey, England
 
Francis Frith
English, 1822–1898
Fountains Abbey, England
circa 1859
Albumen print
96.R.32

Braun/Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens
 
Braun, Clément et Cie.
Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens
Albumen print, ca. 1860s
88.R.26**