piranesi

18th Century: Giovanni Battista PIRANESI

Giovanni-Battista Piranesi Veduta di Roma Focillon Wilton-Ely Luigi Ficacci

Giovanni-Battista Piranesi (1720-1778)

One of the greatest artists in the history of etching and the Vedute genre. As an architect and archaeologist he encouraged the interest in the antiquities in Rome. As most great artists he was not easy to coop with and he followed his own direction. The large formats he used and his technical capability strengthened the intensity of his work. Typical are his blacks, darker then all inks used before.

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Antichita d'Albano e di Castel Gandolfo
Descritte ed incise da Giovambatista Piranesi
Except from the villa of Maecenas, these come from the same edition and are very strong good impressions on paper that has the watermark "Bracoano" (W. -E. N°59) that has to be dated between 1770 and 1790. Taschen mentions a Roman edition from 1764 and later Paris Editions. Franceso Piranesi went to Paris in 1798 so the etchings below are Roman impressions.

55 x 64 cm
Royal or consular tomb in the Alban Hills
Taschen / Wilton-Ely / Focillon: 563 644 511
(Roman edition)

47 by 67,5 cm
Interior view of the villa of Maecenas
Taschen / Wilton-Ely / Focillon: 944 206 769
(Paris edition, with the number 53 in the top left corner)

39 by 55 cm
Tomb wrongly called that of the Horatii and Curatii
Taschen / Wilton-Ely / Focillon: 565 647 514
(Roman edition)

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Veduti Di Roma
The master work he worked on all his career

41,5 cm by 69 cm
View of the Palazzo Stopani (Vidoni Caffarelli
Taschen / Wilton-Ely / Focillon: 999 261 842
(Paris edition with the number 41 top right)

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Vasi, Candelabri, Cippi I (Anno 1778)

38,2 by 52,8 cm
Various lamps of bronze and a vase encrusted with cameos
Taschen / Wilton-Ely / Focillon: 745 900 613
(Edition unknown, probably Paris edition)

Click the thumbnails to see some enlarged details.

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