Recycling, Reconstruction, and Preservation


Clerisseau/Interior of the Temple of Diana at Nimes, France
 
In the mid-eighteenth century, a water shortage in the French city of Nîmes resulted in the reconstruction of aqueducts belonging to a Roman Nymphaeum, or fountain complex. The area was transformed into a public garden by excavating, removing, and reutilizing the ancient ruins. These views of the baths (see next image) and Temple of Diana were made by the artist, architect, and archaeologist Charles-Louis Clérisseau, who visited the complex in about 1767 as the transformation was underway.