View with the Arch of Janus and San Giorgio al Velabro

A series of easily identified Roman buildings and ruins are depicted under a bright sky with just a few darkening clouds. In the background are the Church of San Giorgio al Velabro, with its tall bell tower, and the adjacent Arch of the Silversmiths, while on the left, partially hidden behind a factory or drying room, rises the bulk of the Arch of Janus. Beside it, a series of arches recalls the Clivo di Scauro on the Celio Hill, close to the Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo. The arch in the foreground, under which water springs, is inspired by the Cloaca Maxima where it flows into the Tiber.
This imaginary view mixes real elements with figments of the painter’s imagination to depict the atmosphere, the vegetation and the appearance of ordinary people in Rome and the surrounding countryside, observed during the artist’s long stay in the city. Lallemand produced many drawings of buildings and landscapes in Rome and probably painted this canvas soon after returning to Paris, where he could introduce his passion for Arcadian vedute of this type to the French market. His greatest source of inspiration was the work of Andrea Locatelli, Hendrick Frans van Lint and Jan Frans van Bloemen.