Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778) The Antiquities of Rome, 1756, Vol II, Plate XLIX.
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This copper plate etching is by the Italian architect, archaeologist, etcher, and engraver Giovanni Battista Piranesi, who was hugely influential during the eighteenth century. His imaginative portrayals of antiquity circulated widely throughout Europe, presenting antiquarian debates that pitted the artistic authority of ancient Greece against that of ancient Rome. A fierce proponent of Roman superiority, he published the four-volume Antiquities of Rome in 1756 of which this print, Plate 20 from Volume 2, is an example. The books catalogue in extraordinary breadth and detail the topography, and ruins and remnants of the ancient city as it appeared at that time. In the second volume, he paid particular attention to the monuments existing in Rome and the surrounding country, including plans, elevations, sections, external and internal views and detailed engravings of sarcophagi, tombstones, ash and ointment jars, bas-reliefs, stuccoes, mosaics, inscriptions, and everything else.
This was a huge undertaking that is scarcely credible nowadays, given the limitations of the day. The prints from these portfolios are extremely collectible. Their large format, rich paper and exquisite line make them highly desirable decorative objects… like so much in life, their utility has been somewhat superseded by technological innovations like 3-D imaging and digital media.
There are several editions of these prints all taken from the original plates. The series was made in 1756, copper plate etching printed on thick, handmade paper. A second edition was published in Paris, (the Paris Edition) in 1802 by Piranesi’s sons. I think that the paper and quality suggests that this is in fact the original mid-eighteenth century edition.
This print shows fragments from the tomb chambers of the villa de’Cinque. Visible and arranged on the back wall are delicate items of Roman personal hygiene… scrapers and so on plus needles and broken urns and architectural fragments… it is a very lovely piece and good clean early impression. Illus’ pg 272 of Piranesi, The Complete Etchings by Taschen.
The volumes were half sheet size and it is common for them to have the centre crease and for that crease to work into a tear in the paper. The fold and tear to the top and bottom of the crease has been reinforced with conservation mending tape.
Impression and condition are fine excepting the aforementioned damage.
60 x 49 cm.
