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PIRANESI, Giovanni Battista (1720-1788)
Dedicated Al Nobile Uomo il Sig. Giambattista Collicola Montioni Foriere Maggiore dei Sagri Palazzi Apostolici... [Large basalt vase with masks, Ely 945] [Pl. 60]
[Pl. 60]. Rome: Gio. Batti. Piranesi, [1778]. Engraving. Very good condition apart from a 1 7/8" tear in the far right side of the center fold. Plate mark: 23 5/8 x 17 7/8 inches. Sheet size: 31 3/8 x 23 1/4 inches.
This magnificent detailed engraving of a monumental vase from the Vatican is from Piranesi's 'Vasi, candelabra, cippi, sarcofagi...'
Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Venetian architect, draftsman, scholar, archaeologist, and designer, was tremendously influential in the development of neo-classicism. Patronized by both foreign tourists and Italians including Pope Clement XIII, he was internationally renowned for his etchings of the scenery and ruins of classical Rome.
Piranesi, the son of a stonemason, was born in 1720 in the village of Mogliano, near Venice. Pursuing an early ambition to become an architect, he was apprenticed to his uncle Matteo Lucchesi, a prominent architect and hydraulic engineer, and then to the Palladian architect Giovanni Scalfurotto. He later studied etching and perspective composition in the workshop of Carlo Zucchi.
In 1740, he traveled to Rome where he studied set design with Domenico and Giuseppe Valeriani and engraving with Giuseppe Vasi. After publishing Prima Parte di Architetture, e Prospettive (1743), he spent a brief period in Naples and Venice. He returned to Rome in 1745 and over the next several years issued a series of works that included Invenzioni capric di Carceri (1749-50), Archi Trionfali (1748), and Vedute di Roma (1740s-1778). During the 1750s, he became increasingly interested in archaeology and produced two scholarly works on the subject, Trofei di Ottaviano Augusto (1753) and Antichità Romane de' tempi della Republica e de' primi Imperatori (1756).
With the publication of Della Magnificenza ed Architettura de' Romani (1761), Piranesi became involved in the Graeco-Roman controversy, a theme he addressed in later works. In the 1760s, he focused on ornamental decoration and endorsed the importance of producing original interior and furniture designs inspired by antique motifs in Diverse Maniere d'adornare i Cammini (1769). His ardent interest in archaeology persisted, and he participated in several archaeological digs and issued a number of archaeological treatises. During the 1770s, his antique business thrived, and he continued to execute the plates of Vasi, candelabra, cippi, sarcofagi, tripodi, lucerne, ed ornamenti until his death on November 9, 1778.
Inspired by the interest in classical antiquities in Rome, particularly by wealthy British tourists on the Grand Tour, Piranesi began dealing, authenticating and restoring Roman antiquities in the 1760s. This venture enabled him to support his print-selling business while further pursuing his avid interest in archaeological research. In his workshop near the British quarter, he opened a showroom from which he sold a variety of antique ornamental works ranging from cinerary urns and candelabrum to vases and altars.
Beginning in 1768, he began etching individual plates of the wide assortment of object d'art in his showroom as well as significant works in various Italian and British collections. These etchings, many of which Piranesi inscribed with a descriptive text explaining where the items depicted were found and currently located, were published collectively in 1778 as the Vasi, candelabra, cippi, sarcofagi, tripodi, lucerne, ed ornamenti.
Piranesi's expansive grasp of the vocabulary of antique decorative elements and keen interest in ancient materials is apparent in these finely detailed renderings, some of which provide multiple views of the more intricate relics.
Wilton-Ely, Giovanni Battista Piranesi: The Complete Etchings , 945.
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#8315 $1,200.00 
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Copyright © 2002-2010 Donald A. Heald
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