Views of Rome From the Thomas Ashby Collection in the Vatican Library

This fascinating exhibition of "Views of Rome: Drawings and Watercolors from the Collection of the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana" gives the visitor a unique opportunity to observe European draftsmanship of the highest order from the Renaissance to the age of Romanticism. The exhibition does not present a historic survey of European drawing of Rome, but it does exemplify the richness and importance of the Vatican Library collections, as well as providing a reflection of the development of public and private taste. In this regard the Vatican Library is unique among the great European libraries, as it has been from its foundation intended as a public collection.