This watercolor seems to have been intended as an artistic end in itself, since it is not a study for a known painting. Panini did use the composition, however, in a series of pairs of paintings executed between 1756 and 1758, representing picture galleries crowded with many views of either ancient or modern Rome. In the "Roma Moderna" of the first pair, which was commissioned by the Duke of Choiseul and is now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Scalinata is seen from the same perspective as in this drawing. The "Roma Moderna" of the second pair, which is also in the Metropolitan Museum (52.63.2), includes the Scalinata as well, on the floor to the left of the Duke, just as it is in the Boston painting. In the third set, now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris, the Scalinata is high on the wall to the right.

Inscription: Annotated in pen and brown ink on verso, "g. p. panini," and "No 110."

Marking: Collector's mark of Marquis de Lagoy, Aix stamped in black on recto, lower center (Lugt 1710).

Jacques-Laure Le Tonnelier de Breteuil (French); His saleJanuary 16-25, 1786, no. 76; Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Lebrun ; His saleMarch 11-30, 1791, no. 260; Marquis de Lagoy (French, 1764–1829); Lagoy Collection Inventory, No. 136; Maldwin Drummond(according to Christie's); Christie's, LondonJune 23, 1970, no. 152, repr.; Hans M. Calmann

Thomas Hoving, Olga Raggio, Jacob Bean, Janet S. Byrne, Colta Ives, Suzanne Boorsch, Mary L. Myers, Weston J. Naef, David Kiehl, The Leether Press, Boston "Metropolitan Museum of Art: Notable Acquisitions, 1965-1975" [Accompanied MMA Exhibition: "Patterns of Collecting"]. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1975, p. 61, ill.

"The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Annual Report 1970 - 1971". The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, October-November 1971, p. 16.

"Italian Drawings" Apollo. Apollo Magazine, 96, November 1972. New York, 1972, fig. no. 8, p. 450, ill.

Linda Boyer Gillies "An Eighteenth Century Roman View, Panini's Scalinata della Trinità dei Morti" Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. vol 30, no. 4, New York, 1972, fig. no. fig. 1, p. 176, ill.

Jacob Bean Drawings Recently Acquired, 1969-1971. Exh. cat., New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, January 18 - April 16. . New York, 1972, p. 14, no. 35.

Jacob Bean Artists in Rome in the 18th Century: Drawings and Prints [cover title: Rome in the 18th century] Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Feb. 7-May 7, 1978. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1978.

Jacob Bean, William M. Griswold 18th Century Italian Drawings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Exh. cat., New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1990, cat. no. 151, fig. no. 151, p. 159, ill.