Landscape with Classical Ruins, a Large Vase, and an Equestrian Statue

This light and feathery etching of overgrown, overturned, and headless antiquities is a glimpse into a ruined fantasy world, not a view of a real place. It’s a mash-up of classical and Renaissance bits and pieces (for example, the equestrian statue is based on a Renaissance sculpture in Padua, not an ancient one in Rome), inhabited by characters in pseudo-ancient costumes. It’s more like a stage set than anything else—not surprising, since Ricci was a set designer as well as a painter.