Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778).
ca. 1770-1778.
Etching on paper. Custom made mats and frames in option, conceived in France by a contemporary artisan.
61,5 x 91 cm.
Architect, designer, archaeologist, writer and printmaker, the Venetian visionary Giovanni Battista Piranesi devoted his whole career to the celebration of Roman architecture, present, past and future.
This print is part of a series of etchings made by Piranesi documenting many antiquities unearthed in Italy throughout the 18th-century, many of which underwent restoration in Piranesi's own workshop in Rome. The plates that Piranesi produced included a text with detailing the circumstances of discovery of each object as well as in which collection they were then to be found.
Born in Venice, Giovanni Battista Piranesi relocated to Rome in 1740. As the son of a mason and master builder, Piranesi underwent extensive training in architecture, stage design, and perspective composition. Despite initial struggles in Rome, he later gained recognition, becoming a prominent figure known for creating a vast array of etchings showcasing Roman architecture and antiquities until his death in 1778. Piranesi stands since as the most eminent Italian printmakers of the eighteenth century, contributing significantly to the evolution of neoclassical style.
Part of our second series of three etchings :
