Some 1786 images from the Baths of Titus

The Baths of Titus have long been destroyed.  They stood over part of the remains of Nero’s Golden House, itself filled with frescos.

A volume published in 1786 and now online, Ponce, Description des bains de Titus, here, contains a general view of the Baths, as they then stood, together with the entrance to the underground areas; plus two maps.

First the overview, including one of the massive exedras:

Baths_of_Titus_1_Ponce
View of the remains of the Baths of Titus (Thermae Titi) and the entrance to the underground tooms. From Ponce, Description des bains de Titus, 1786.

Next, a map of the underground areas, indicating the foundations of the exedras.

Baths_of_Titus_2_Underground_map_Ponce
Map of the underground areas under the Baths of Titus. Note the foundations of the semi-circular exedras at each end. From Ponce, Description des bains de Titus, 1786.

Finally a map of the overground area, with some elevations.  I wonder, from the notes on it, how much of this was still standing in 1786, tho.  I’m guessing this is merely a reconstruction from Piranesi, etc.

Ponce (1786).  Map of the Baths of Titus, after Piranesi.
Ponce (1786). Map of the Baths of Titus, after Piranesi.

Update: Ste. Trombetti writes to say that in fact Ponce is a pixel-for-pixel reprint of Ludovico Mirri’s Vestigia delle terme di Tito e loro interne pitture, 1776, accessible at the Heidelberg Digital library here. (And, pleasingly, with a nice big “Download” button on it!)

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