In 1776 he created his famous Piranesi Vase, his best known work as a 'restorer' of ancient sculpture. In 1769 his publication of a series of ingenious and sometimes bizarre designs for chimneypieces, as well as an original range of furniture pieces, established his place as a versatile and resourceful designer. In 1767 he was created a knight of the Golden Spur, which enabled him henceforth to sign himself "Cav Piranesi". In 1764 Piranesi started his sole architectural works of importance, the restoration of the church of Santa Maria del Priorato in the Villa of the Knights of Malta in Rome, where he was buried in a tomb designed by Giuseppi Angelini. The following year he was commissioned by Pope Clement XIII to restore the choir of San Giovanni in Laterano, but the work did not materialize. In 1762 the Campo Marzio dell'antica Roma collection of engravings was printed. In 1761 he became a member of the Accademia di San Luca and opened a printing facility of his own. In the meantime Piranesi devoted himself to the measurement of many of the ancient edifices: this led to the publication of Le Antichità Romane de' tempo della prima Repubblica e dei primi imperatori ("Roman Antiquities of the Time of the First Republic and the First Emperors"). In 1748–1774 he created a long series of vedute of the city which established his fame. He then returned to Rome, where he opened a workshop in Via del Corso. After his studies with Vasi, he collaborated with pupils of the French Academy in Rome to produce a series of vedute (views) of the city his first work was Prima parte di Architettura e Prospettive (1743), followed in 1745 by Varie Vedute di Roma Antica e Moderna.įrom 1743 to 1747 he sojourned mainly in Venice where, according to some sources, he often visited Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. He resided in the Palazzo Venezia and studied under Giuseppe Vasi, who introduced him to the art of etching and engraving. His brother Andrea introduced him to Latin and the ancient civilization, and later he studied as an architect under his uncle, Matteo Lucchesi, who was Magistrato delle Acque, a Venetian engineer who specialized in excavation.įrom 1740 he was in Rome with Marco Foscarini, the Venetian envoy to the Vatican. Piranesi was born in Mogliano Veneto, near Treviso, then part of the Republic of Venice. Giovanni Battista (also Giambattista) Piranesi (Italian: 4 October 1720 – 9 November 1778) was an Italian artist famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric "prisons" (Carceri d'Invenzione). "From the pomp and architecture of the Romans " » First part of the architectures and perspectives " Sequel to "The ancient buildings of Rome "įirst part of the architectures and perspectives, frontispiece Sequel to "The Field of Mars in ancient Rome " " Ancient buildings of Albano and Castel Gandolfo "Īncient Roman buildings from the time of the Republic and the first Emperor, sheet 6, The Arch of Titus Study sheet, figures of two men, a foot study Reconstruction of the Circus Maximus in Rome The speaking ruins have filled my spirit with images that accurate drawings could never have succeeded in conveying. Of his architectural fantasies, Piranesi commented (And there were later editions to follow.) This second edition, which appeared in three successive issues between 1761 and the early 1770’s, was published by Piranesi himself, after his move to new large premises in the Palazzo Tomati. He etched two further plates and published the series with the title Carceri d’Invenzione (Imaginary Prisons). The first edition was published for Piranesi by Bouchard & Gravier in Rome, in three issues between 17, with the title Invenzioni capric di Carceri.Įarly in the 1760’s and in the following years Piranesi reworked the plates extensively through a succession of states, influenced by his response to Roman architecture, making them darker, and introducing dramatic new motifs, related to punishment and torture, into their composition. Capricci inventions very much related to his Venetian origins and early theatrical stage training. Among Piranesi’s earliest plates, perhaps begun in Venice during his two year return to the city, 1645-47, were the first states of fourteen of the Carceri.
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