Inspired by the rediscovery of Pompeii in 1748, he spent 35 years of his life from approximately 1880 to 1915 documenting the ruins of the ancient city that had been exposed by ongoing excavations with watercolor paintings. Bazzani experimented with the techniques of architectural relief, an aspect so far little known but of great interest for archaeological research^[2] and his attention to detail was prized by scientists working at the site. His often exquisitely muted colors and his superb technical skill enabled him to replicate antique stone, whether chipped facing or other decaying aspects of it.^[3] At the time of Bazzani's work in Pompeii, the freshly excavated remains were still vibrant with original paint.

He contributed a series of fourteen illustrations to a publication by Pompeii's leading archaeologist Amedeo Maiuri.^[4] Since then, however, many interiors have been lost to deterioration. So his work has been a valuable resource for modern archaeologists and scholars as well.^[5]

Beginning in 1895, Bazzani exhibited regularly in Rome, Vienna, Munich, Berlin, and Paris. He also taught perspective and set design at the Academia di Belle Arti in Rome from 1892 to 1896 with Ludovico Zeit^[1] and had prize-winning artist Luigi Savoldi as a pupil.^[6] Eventually, Bazzani became a member of academies in Rome, Bologna, and Perugia.^[1] In 2013, the exhibition "Really! The Pompeii of the late 1800s in the painting of Luigi Bazzani" was presented by The Fondazione del Monte di Bologna, in collaboration with the University of Bologna (Department of History, Civilization Cultures, Section of Archeology). It included a multimedia application developed by the Italian consortium of universities and research centers known as Cineca that integrated images of Bazzani's watercolors into their appropriate locations in Pompeii's archaeological structures as viewed through Google Earth.^[5]

Pompeii watercolors (See more by clicking on the Wikimedia Commons link) edit

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  Summer Triclinium of House V, 2, 15, 1914
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  Pompeii Bath
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  Lararium of the House of Dioscuri, 1902
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  House of the Great Fountain
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  Atrium of the House of the Centenary, 1901
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  Peristyle with fountain in the House of Marcus Lucretius
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  Peristyle with fountain in the House of Marcus Lucretius (Detail)
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  Pompeii Interior
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  Pompeii theater
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  Lararium of the House IX,1,7, Pompeii,1903
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  Nymphaeum at the House of the Bull, 1901
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  Atrium of the House of the Mariner
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  House of the Vetti
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  House of the Small Fountain
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  House with impluvium and marble table
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  Insula in Region IX, V, 18
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  Temple of Isis
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  Thermopolion (fast food stall) in the alley of the rooster
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  Fountain with head of Mercury on Mercury Street
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  House of the Hanging Balcony
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  Portal of a patrician house on Augustus Street
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  Tomb in the necropolis
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  Tomb with covered niche and planter with garland
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  Lararium in the House of L Caecilius Jucundus
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  Pompeii Atrium
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  Arches of Nero in the Forum
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  Pompeian red interior
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  The Genaeceum (Women's Quarters) of the House of Sallust (VI 2, 4)
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  Thermopolium in the Alley of the Pharmacist
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  Atrium of the House of the Ancient Hunt
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  Atrium of the House of the Ancient Hunt (Detail)
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  Atrium of the House of the Ancient Hunt in Pompeii
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  Atrium of the House of the Vetti VI.15.1
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  Entry to a Roman domus
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  Atrium of the House of the Prince of Naples
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  Fountain of the House of the Arches (IX 7, 20)
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  Atrium of the House of Cornelius Rufus
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  Colonnade of the House of Cornelius Rufus
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  House of the Silver Wedding
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  Lararium of a family altar, seen in situ after excavation, House of Aulus Vettius, Pompeii, c36-39 CE, 1895
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  Lararium of the House of Paccius Alexander (IX 1, 7)
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  Large theater in Pompeii, 1910,
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  Pompeii forum
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  The Temple of Fortuna Augusta

Rome's monuments edit

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  Temple of Antonino and Faustina, Rome
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  Anaglyph of Trajan in the Roman Forum, 1897
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  Temple of Saturn by Luigi Bazzani, 1894
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  Arch of Septimius Severus in Rome (Detail)
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  Arch of Septimius Severus in the Forum Romanum
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  Termini ruins in Rome
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  Portico of Octavia
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  The Young Flower Seller

Neoclassical genre paintings edit

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  Atrium in Pompeii
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  Women feeding fish in a Pompeiian atrium
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  Women in a Pompeian Atrium feeding fish (Detail)
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  A Pompeian Interior
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  A Roman Interior
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  A visit to Pompeii
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  Beauties in an Interior, 1879
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  Decorating the Temple, 1887
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  In a Courtyard in Pompeii,1878
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  Pompeii atrium
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  Women at the well
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  Roman life
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  Pompeii Street Scene
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  Women in a Pompeian Atrium
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  Picking flowers from the courtyard
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  Fruit seller in the courtyard of a Pompeian Villa, 1876

Luigi Bazzani died on February 2, 1927, in Rome, Italy.^[1]