Giovanni Paolo Panini was the foremost view painter of the 18th century in Rome, and by the 1730's he was as celebrated for his real and imaginary views of that city as Canaletto was for his Venetian vedute. Tourists visiting Rome on the Grand Tour wanted works which portrayed some of the most memorable sights of that City whether in real or capriccio setting. Although Panini was known to repeat his compositions, only making slight changes to figure groups or the placing of monuments, the present, hitherto unpublished, painting in which actual Roman ruins are combined with animated figures, is the sole representation of this fanciful Roman Emperor's tomb