This river view might well have been included in Vasi's first volume on the city gates because it shows an exceptional view of the 3rd century Aurelian walls in which many of those gates opened. Indeed at the extreme right edge of the print we see the 1st century BC Pyramid of Caius Cestius (4) incorporated into the city walls next to the Porta Ostiense also known as Porta S. Paolo, Plate 11. At the river's edge the walls take a right angle and follow the river upstream. Rising above that angle of the walls is the Monte Testaccio (3), a refuse hill made up entirely of broken amphorae from the ancient river port nearby. On the far left the Paul V fountain (1) and the church of S. Pietro in Montorio (2) are seen on top of the wooded Janiculum hill which slopes down to the multiple church spires of Trastevere. Vasi’s large Patriarchal view of S. Paolo Fuori le Mura compounds a view of the Aventine Hill with Monte Testaccio showing the same stretch of Aurelian walls and the Pyramid seen in this print.
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