015 il colosseo

This sketch was made on the south side of the Colosseum. On the right you can see the original construction of stone, built between 72 and 80 AD. The original marble, of course, was taken years ago for use on other buildings around town, or for making mortar. Only the substrate is left and you can see the large voids where iron straps were installed to support the cladding.

On the left you can see the intervention from Pope Gregory, which means it happened sometime between 1831-1846. This brick intervention actually prevented subsequent collapse of the original materials. I have some great photos of this, but I need to track down a cable for the camera before I can share...