People fled from burning Rome. Hubert Robert, "The Fire of Rome"
In 64 AD, Rome burned.
It was the Great Fire of Rome, a famous event in ancient Roman history.
When people hear about the Great Fire of Rome, many may think of the name of Emperor Nero.
The story that "Nero set the fire" is still often told today.
However, when looking at Hubert Robert's "The Fire of Rome," the first thing that catches the eye is not the emperor.
What is there are the people fleeing from the flames.
Clutching only what they can carry,
huddling together,
looking back at the burning city,
people are trying to escape from Rome.
The "nameless people" in history
History is usually told through big names.
Emperors.
Kings.
Wars.
Revolutions.
The collapse of cities.
The Great Fire of Rome is also an event often told alongside the name of the emperor, Nero.
But the people depicted in the foreground of this painting have no names.
Which house did they live in?
What did they lose?
Who were they fleeing with?
That is unknown.
Even so, they certainly exist within the frame.
A person carrying a load.
A person huddling for comfort.
A person looking back.
An event written in history books as just "The Great Fire of Rome" must have been a reality where their lives burned down for the people who lived through that night.
The flames are closing in
In the background of the painting, the city of Rome is engulfed in flames.
Red, blazing fire.
A massive structure standing before it.
And the people depicted small within it.
In this painting, the fire itself is terrifying, but even more impressive is the smallness of the humans.
A massive city is burning.
Yet, there is little people can do.
Carry what they can,
huddle with someone,
and just run.
The horror of this painting is not just the size of the flames.
It lies in the fact that humans are thrown into events they cannot control themselves.
That is where it lies.
The theory of Nero's arson is not a confirmed fact.
There is also a theory that Emperor Nero set the Great Fire of Rome.
After the fire, Nero built a massive palace on the ruins.
Because of this, the theory that "Nero might have set the fire to build his palace" began to be told.
However, this is not a confirmed fact.
Did Nero really set the fire?
Or was he suspected because he built a massive palace after the fire?
There are parts of that which still remain as rumors today.
Therefore, when looking at this painting, it might be better not to be too swayed by the story of Nero.
What is depicted in this painting is not the emperor at the center of the rumors, but the people fleeing from the flames.
A painter who depicted ruins
Hubert Robert, who painted this work, was a painter who often depicted ancient ruins and wreckage.
He was also called "Robert of the Ruins."
Collapsed temples.
Lost cities.
Ancient architecture.
Places that seem left behind by the passage of time.
Robert repeatedly painted such landscapes.
However, he was not just a painter who looked at ruins from the distant past.
He was later caught up in the chaos of the French Revolution, imprisoned, and exposed to danger to his life.
The painter who depicted ruins would eventually live through the reality of his own era collapsing.
Thinking of it that way, "The Fire of Rome" does not look like just a history painting.
A burning city.
Fleeing people.
Collapsing order.
While painting an event from ancient Rome, Robert may have been staring at the fear of the moment when civilization breaks down.
How much terror did people feel as they fled that night?
In 64 AD, Rome burned.
That event is now called the "Great Fire of Rome."
It is sometimes told alongside rumors of Nero.
However, when looking at this painting, what is there is not just rumors.
A person carrying a load.
A person huddling for comfort.
A person looking back at the burning city.
Even in major historical events, there are always people who had no choice but to flee.
The city burns.
Livelihoods are lost.
Even so, people start walking to survive.
Hubert Robert's "The Fire of Rome" is a painting that depicts a burning Rome.
But at the same time, it is also a painting that depicts the figures of nameless people who fled through those flames.
How much terror did people feel as they fled that night?
Work Information
"The Fire of Rome"
Hubert Robert
An 18th-century work.
Books you might also want to read
This "The Fire of Rome" is not just a painting of a "burning city."
The Great Fire of Rome that occurred in 64 AD, the rumors surrounding Emperor Nero, and the figures of people fleeing from the flames.
Just by knowing a little about the history of ancient Rome, the way you see this painting changes significantly.
For those who want to know the background of ancient Rome
For those who want to know about the Great Fire of Rome and the era of Nero, an introductory book on ancient Rome is recommended first.
When you learn what kind of place the city of Rome was and what kind of era the emperors lived in, the flames in the painting no longer look like mere staging, but as a scene of history.
For those who want to know about disasters depicted in paintings
Another book I would like to recommend is one that explores how disasters, wars, and plagues have been depicted in paintings.
Like "The Fire of Rome," paintings sometimes depict not only beauty but also people's fear, loss, and the anxieties of the times.
For those who like "scary paintings" or are "drawn to dark scenes in history," this might resonate more.
If you want to know about the Great Fire of Rome as history, read a book on ancient Rome.
If you want to savor the fear and disasters depicted in paintings more deeply, read a history of disaster paintings.
I think both will help you see this "The Fire of Rome" not just as a "painting of a fire," but as a piece engraved with people's lives and the memories of an era.