In this paper we present the first results of a research on Enrico Colonna (1768-1802), painter and engraver, author of a series of matrices, called Archi trionfali (Triumph arches) or Antichità romane (Roman antiquities). The ten unpublished copperplates, outline ethched, are stored in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples. In addition to the views of Rome, some more drawings were found which may be ascribed to the painter, whose short existence underwent a dramatic turning point for the participation in the revolution of 1799 and for joining the Repubblica Napoletana.