Ruin of an Amphitheatre at Pouzzoles (Kingdom of Naples), plate 9 from Oeuvres de A. Calame

Ruin of an Amphitheater at Pouzzoles (Kingdom of Naples) was made after a lost 1845 sketch by the painter and engraver Alexandre Calame. Created during the middle of Calame’s trip to Italy, this image depicts a plainly dressed hermit standing amidst a large ruin and quietly reading a book, perhaps the Bible. Calame, a Calvinist, employed the grandiose ruins of the amphitheater as an evocation of God’s power over man.