In 1777 an ancient house was excavated in the grounds of Villa Negroni, Rome, revealing rooms with well-preserved frescoes. Between 1778 and 1802 the architect Camillo Buti oversaw the production of twelve prints reproducing the frescoes, after Anton Raphael Mengs and his brother-in-law Anton von Maron. The plates were only lightly etched with the intention that the published impressions would be heavily hand-coloured, in the intense reds, blues and purples that are described in contemporary accounts of the paintings.