View of Rome with the Tiberand Castel Sant'Angelo

Van Wittel executed views of Rome and the Tiber on an unusual range of supports, and this work on parchment represents one of the more distinctive examples in his surviving output. Parchment — prepared animal skin — offered a smooth, durable surface similar to copper but with a warmer tone and subtle texture, and it was occasionally used for vedute intended as display pieces rather than decoration in the conventional sense. His view of Rome with the Tiber and Castel Sant'Angelo, dated to 1685, focuses on one of the city's defining compositions: the ancient mausoleum of Hadrian, converted into a papal fortress, linked to the Vatican by the passetto corridor and rising above the Tiber's curve. Van Wittel returned to this subject multiple times across his career in different media, each version capturing slightly different atmospheric conditions or viewpoints. The 1685 date on parchment places this among his earliest Roman works, and its preservation reflects both the durability of the support and the particular care that early collectors took with unusual-format vedute.

Parchment's non-absorbent surface allows paint to sit crisply without the spreading that can occur on canvas. Van Wittel exploits this quality in the architectural passages, where individual stone courses on Castel Sant'Angelo can be distinguished. The warm cream tone of the parchment itself influences the overall colour key, giving the composition a golden warmth distinct from his cooler copper-panel works.