Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 24 March 1976, lot 31 (sold as a pair with A View of the Piazza San Marco, Venice);
With Colnaghi, London;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 10 December 1986, lot 41 (sold as a pair with A View of the Piazza San Marco, Venice);
With Richard Green, London;
By whom (anonymously) sold, New York, Sotheby's, 14 January 1988, lot 160 (sold as a pair with A View of the Piazza San Marco, Venice);
There purchased by a private collector and anonymously sold, New York, Sotheby's, 27 May 2004, lot 111, where acquired.

A. Busiri Vici, Peter, Hendrik e Giacomo Van Lint, Rome 1987, p. 64, cat. no. 44, reproduced fig. 44 (with incorrect measurements).

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work is in wonderful condition. It appears that there are no retouches to the architecture or foreground, except for a couple of spots in the shadowed part of the piazza in the lower center. In the sky, the bulbous clouds in the upper center show a few restorations, and there is a 1 inch square area of retouching which may correspond to actual paint loss. There are also a few tiny dots of retouching around the extreme profile of the buildings against the sky. All of the details are beautifully preserved and the work is clearly in lovely condition.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This view of Rome's Piazza del Popolo is taken from the Porta del Popolo or Porta Flaminia, the main entrance to the north of the city through the Aurelian city walls, and thus the first view of Rome for many travelers. When the view was painted the buildings to the sides were still standing: the visitor today is confronted by an extended layout, with two semicircles to the sides, after the modifications designed by Giuseppe Valadier in the early nineteenth century. To the left, tree-lined steps take the modern visitor to the Pincio.

The Obelisk of Ramesses II, known more commonly as the Obelisco Flaminio, still stands today in the center of the square. It 𝔍was brought to Rome in 10 BC by order of Augustus and originally placed in the Circus Maximus, before being moved to the Piazza del Popolo in 1589. The three streets leading away from the viewer are, from left to right, the Via del Babuino, the Via del Corso and the Via di Ripꦿetta.

The painting has always hung and been sold with its pendant, the View of the Piazza San Marco with the Piazzetta in Venice (lot 306).

Busiri Vici (see Literature) proposes that Van Lint based the design on an earlieꦚr engraving by Vanvitelli (fig. 1).