This setting is recognisable and shows an area that dates back to ancient Roman times. The reference to the classical past contrasts starkly with the squalor of Lingelbach’s scene where traders, gamblers, beggars and an armed retainer gather together around the entrance of a cheap hostel (with paper windows). The artist lodged for a time in this very street, and evidently knew it well. Acquired by George IV in 1811 No. 34