The Roman Carnival was an eight-day period of riotous celebration before the beginning of Lent. For Scottish visitors, it must have made a startling contrast with the sober conduct promoted by Scotland’s strict Protestant Kirk. David Allan was so fascinated that he produced a series of elaborate drawings of the events, later engraved by Paul Sandby. This plate captures the heady atmosphere of the Carnival’s opening festivities in the Piazza del Popolo, as priests, soldiers, tourists and ordinary Roman citizens disregard normal social boundaries and mix with elaborately costumed masqueraders.