The Baths of Caracalla, Rome’s second largest public baths, was a popular site for oil-sketching. Here the foreground is broadly worked, the grass flatly painted in a bright lemon green. By contrast the architecture is more sharply and intricately painted, with details in the dark red brickwork picked out, such as the archway at the lower left. The ruined column is starkly defined against the sun-drenched sky, making for a highly dramatic view.

The glossy surface to the architecture combined with the high-keyed tonality has led to this sketch being attributed to Théodore Caruelle d'Aligny, a historical landscapist who made his debut at the Salon in 1822 with Daphnis and Chloe (now lost). From 1824 to 1827 he lived and worked in Italy, where he became friends with Jean-Baptiste- Camille Corot, who was in Italy between 1825 and 1828.