This canvas once had at least one similar composition as a pendant. Such paintings were designed as decorations for reception halls in front of private rooms in the palaces of the aristocracy and in country villas.

It is worth noting that while the classical ruins in the foreground are complete fantasy, in the background are buildings with characteristic Gothic arches. Such combinations of different architectural elements were frequent in the work of the Bolognese quadraturisti and indicate the renewed interest in mediaeval art and architecture in various places in northern Italy at the end of the 18th century. The attribution of this picture to Tertulliano Tarroni is based on comparisons with his signed paintings in Italian private collections. Four very similar pictures, which must also be attributed to Tarroni are kept in the Academy of Arts in Honolulu (Hawaii, USA): Nos. 2921.1, 2922.1, 2923.1, and 2924.1.