PIRANESI, Giovanni Battista (1720-1788)

[Plate of a neo-Classical fireplace, from "Diverse maniere d'adornare i cammini ed ogni altra parte degli edifizi".

[40] [Rome: mid-1770s - 1790]. Etched plate, on laid paper, by Piranesi. In good condition with large margins. Sheet size: 15 x 20 7/8 inches.

An elaborate chimneypiece design from Piranesi’s Diverse maniere, showing his neoclassical imagination applied to the scale of an interior.

The fireplace opening is framed by paired pilaster-like jambs ornamented with urns, rams' heads, and pendant foliage, supporting an entablature whose architrave and frieze are thickly encrusted with scrolls, masks, and festoons. At the center a trophy-like assemblage of leaves, fruits, and classical ornaments hangs over the firebox, within which a single plume of flame rises against a darkened ground, echoing the vertical axis of the composition and turning the fire itself into part of the decorative scheme. Published in Diverse maniere d'adornare i cammini, this plate belongs to Piranesi's celebrated series of designs for chimneypieces and interior furnishings, in which he drew on Greek, Etruscan, Egyptian, and Roman sources to argue for a more inventive, archaeologically informed approach to modern design. Although a few of his fireplace inventions are known to have been translated into marble for elite patrons, most remained visionary proposals on paper, and no realised example corresponding to this particular plate has been identified.

Ficacci 663; Focillon 901; Wilton-Ely 851; Hind p. 86.

Item #20516

Price: $500.00