Funding. Ahmanson Foundation, 1999

Never attempted on this scale in the United States, this survey of 18th-century Rome explored the rich vitality of the city's artistic and cultural life toward the end of its existence as an independent papal state. The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston organized an exhibition of 380 works of art by more than 160 artists, including a variety of paintings, sculpture, works on paper, decorative arts, architectural renderings and models. In Philadelphia, the exhibition was curated by Joseph J. Rishel, Ann Percy, and Dean Walker.