The aims of my three months residency at The British School at Rome were two-fold: to focus exclusively on an examination of the ‘ the capricci’ paintings, that were made by the Italian artists of the 17th and 18th century when Rome was the main centre in Italy for innovation in landscape painting; and secondly, and explicitly, to create my own capricci paintings.

One of the most fascinating series of works I found at the BSR library were the collection of Capricci Etchings by Piranesi, and these became key to my studies. These etchings were of major influence to the landscape artists of the time and to generations of others who came after. They also awoke a new subject matter in my work ‘The Pyramid of Gaius Cestius’ which was represented by Piranesi and by others during his time.

— Covadonga Valdes