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Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (; also known as simply Piranesi; 4 October 1720 – 9 November 1778) was an
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
Classical archaeologist Classical archaeology is the archaeological investigation of the Mediterranean civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Nineteenth-century archaeologists such as Heinrich Schliemann were drawn to study the societies they had read about i ...
,
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
, and
artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...
, famous for his
etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...
s of
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
and of fictitious and atmospheric "prisons" (''
Carceri d'invenzione ''Carceri d'invenzione'', often translated as ''Imaginary Prisons'', is a series of 16 etchings by the Italian artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 14 produced from c. 1745 to 1750, when the first edition of the set was published. All depict enormo ...
''). He was the father of Francesco Piranesi, Laura Piranesi and .


Biography

Piranesi was born in
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
, in the parish of S. Moisè where he was baptised. His father was a
stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, mo ...
. His brother Andrea introduced him to
Latin literature Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings written in the Latin language. The beginning of formal Latin literature dates to 240 BC, when the first stage play in Latin was performed in Rome. Latin literature ...
and ancient Greco-Roman civilization, and later he was apprenticed under his uncle, Matteo Lucchesi, who was a leading architect in ''Magistrato delle Acque'', the state organization responsible for engineering and restoring historical buildings. From 1740, he had an opportunity to work in Rome as a
draughtsman A draughtsman (British spelling) or draftsman (American spelling) may refer to: * An architectural drafter, who produced architectural drawings until the late 20th century * An artist who produces drawings that rival or surpass their other types ...
for Marco Foscarini, the Venetian ambassador of the new
Pope Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV ( la, Benedictus XIV; it, Benedetto XIV; 31 March 1675 â€“ 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758.Antipope ...
. He resided in the
Palazzo Venezia The Palazzo Venezia or Palazzo Barbo (), formerly Palace of St. Mark, is a palazzo (palace) in central Rome, Italy, just north of the Capitoline Hill. The original structure of this great architectural complex consisted of a modest medieval hous ...
and studied under Giuseppe Vasi, who introduced him to the art of etching and
engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...
of the city and its monuments. Giuseppe Vasi found Piranesi's talent was much greater than that of a mere engraver. According to Legrand, Vasi told Piranesi that "you are too much of a painter, my friend, to be an engraver." After his studies with Vasi, he collaborated with pupils of the
French Academy in Rome The French Academy in Rome (french: Académie de France à Rome) is an Academy located in the Villa Medici, within the Villa Borghese, on the Pincio (Pincian Hill) in Rome, Italy. History The Academy was founded at the Palazzo Capranica in ...
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''. From 1743 to 1747, he was mainly in Venice where, according to some sources, he often visited
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 â€“ March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an impo ...
, a leading artist in Venice. It was Tiepolo who expanded the restrictive conventions of reproductive, topographical and antiquarian engravings. He then returned to Rome, where he opened a workshop in
Via del Corso The Via del Corso is a main street in the historical centre of Rome. It is straight in an area otherwise characterized by narrow meandering alleys and small piazzas. Considered a wide street in ancient times, the Corso is approximately 10 metres w ...
. In 1748–1774, he created an important series of ''
vedute A ''veduta'' (Italian for "view"; plural ''vedute'') is a highly detailed, usually large-scale painting or, more often, print of a cityscape or some other vista. The painters of ''vedute'' are referred to as ''vedutisti''. Origins This genre ...
'' of the city which established his fame. In the meantime Piranesi devoted himself to the measurement of many of the ancient buildings: 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 1761, he became a member of the
Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fir ...
and opened a printing house of his own. In 1762, the ''Campo Marzio dell'antica Roma'' collection of engravings was printed. The following year he was commissioned by
Pope Clement XIII Pope Clement XIII ( la, Clemens XIII; it, Clemente XIII; 7 March 1693 â€“ 2 February 1769), born Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 July 1758 to his death in February 1769. ...
to restore the choir of
San Giovanni in Laterano The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran ( it, Arcibasilica del Santissimo Salvatore e dei Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano), also known as the Papa ...
, but the work did not materialize. In 1764, one of the Pope's nephews, Cardinal Rezzonico, appointed him to start his only architectural work, the restoration of the church of
Santa Maria del Priorato The Church of St. Mary of the Priory ( it, Chiesa di Santa Maria del Priorato), also known as St. Mary on the Aventine ( it, Santa Maria in Aventino), is the monastery church of the Priory of the Knights of Malta on the Aventine Hill in Rome, a ...
in the Villa of the Knights of Malta, on Rome's
Aventine Hill The Aventine Hill (; la, Collis Aventinus; it, Aventino ) is one of the Seven Hills on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa, the modern twelfth ''rione'', or ward, of Rome. Location and boundaries The Aventine Hill is the sou ...
. He combined Classical architectural elements, trophies and escutcheons with his own particular imaginative genius for the design of the facade of the church and the walls of the adjacent Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta. In 1767, he was made a knight of the Golden Spur, which enabled him to sign himself "Cav lierePiranesi". 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 1776, he created his best known work as a 'restorer' of ancient sculpture, the ''
Piranesi Vase The Piranesi Vase or Boyd Vase is a reconstructed, colossal marble calyx krater from ancient Rome, on three legs and a triangular base, with a relief around the sides of the vase. It is 107 inches (2.71m) tall and 28 inches (0.71m) in diameter. T ...
'', and in 1777–78 he published ''Avanzi degli Edifici di Pesto'' (Remains of the Edifices of
Paestum Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC, whic ...
). He died in Rome in 1778 after a long illness, and was buried in the church he had helped restore, Santa Maria del Priorato. His tomb was designed by Giuseppi Angelini.


The ''Views'' (''Vedute'')

Even though the social structure by an aristocracy remained rigid and oppressive, Venice revived through the
Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...
as the center of intellectual and international exchange in the eighteenth century. The ideas of the Enlightenment stimulated theorists and artists all over Europe including Paris, Dresden, and London. New forms of artistic expression emerged: veduta, capriccio, and veduta ideata, topographical view, architectural fantasy, accurate renderings of ancient monuments assembled with imaginary compositions in response to the demand of increased visitors. The developing center of the Grand Tour was Rome. Rome became a new meeting place and intellectual capital of Europe for the leaders of a new movement in the arts. The city was attracting artists and architects from all over Europe beside the Grand Tourists, dealers and antiquarians. While many came through official institutions such as the French Academy, others came to see the new discoveries at
Herculaneum Herculaneum (; Neapolitan and it, Ercolano) was an ancient town, located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Like the nea ...
and
Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...
. Coffee shops were frequent gathering places, most famously the
Antico Caffè Greco The Antico Caffè Greco (; sometimes simply referred to as ''Caffè Greco'') is a historic landmark café which opened in 1760 on Via dei Condotti in Rome, Italy. It is the oldest bar in Rome and second oldest in Italy, after Caffè Florian in ...
, established 1760. The Caffe degli Inglesi opened several years later, at the foot of the Spanish Steps in
Piazza di Spagna Piazza di Spagna ("Spanish Square"), at the bottom of the Spanish Steps, is one of the most famous squares in Rome, Italy. It owes its name to the Palazzo di Spagna, the seat of the Embassy of Spain to the Holy See. There is also the famed Colum ...
, with wall paintings by Piranesi. With his own print workshop and museo of antiquities nearby, Piranesi was able to cultivate relationships in both places with wealthy buyers on the tour, particularly English. The remains of Rome kindled Piranesi's enthusiasm. Informed by his experience in Venice and his study of the works of
Marco Ricci Marco Ricci (6 June 1676 – 21 January 1730) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Early years He was born at Belluno and received his first instruction in art from his uncle, Sebastiano Ricci, likely in Milan in 1694–6.Giacometti, Mar ...
and particularly
Giovanni Paolo Panini Giovanni Paolo Panini or Pannini (17 June 1691 – 21 October 1765) was an Italian painter and architect who worked in Rome and is primarily known as one of the ''vedutisti'' ("view painters"). As a painter, Panini is best known for his vistas of ...
, he appreciated not only the engineering of the ancient buildings but also the poetic aspects of the ruins. He was able to faithfully imitate the actual remains; his invention in catching the design of the original architect provided the missing parts. His masterful skill at engraving introduced groups of vases, altars, tombs that were absent in reality; his manipulations of scale; and his broad and scientific distribution of light and shade completed the picture, creating a striking effect from the whole view. A number of the ''Views'' are notable for depicting human figures whose poverty, lameness, apparent drunkenness, and other visible flaws appear to echo the decay of the ruins. This is consistent with a familiar trope of Renaissance literature, in which the ruins of Rome are lamented as a metaphor for the imperfection and transience of human existence. Some of his later work was completed by his children and several pupils. Piranesi's son and coadjutor,
Francesco Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name " Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include: People with the given name Francesco * Francesco I (disambiguation), sev ...
, collected and preserved his plates, in which the freer lines of the etching-needle largely supplemented the severity of burin work. Twenty-nine folio volumes containing about 2000 prints appeared in Paris (1835–1837). The late
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
works of
Claude Lorrain Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 â€“ 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in It ...
,
Salvatore Rosa Salvator Rosa (1615 –1673) is best known today as an Italian Baroque painter, whose romanticized landscapes and history paintings, often set in dark and untamed nature, exerted considerable influence from the 17th century into the early 19th ...
, and others had featured romantic and fantastic depictions of ruins; in part as a
memento mori ''Memento mori'' (Latin for 'remember that you ave todie'Neoclassicism Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...
. One of the main features of Neo-Classicism is the attitude towards nature and the uses of the past. Neo-Classicism was prompted by the discoveries at Herculaneum and Pompeii. Rediscovery and revaluation of Greece, Egypt, and Gothic was also active as well as the various expeditions of unfamiliar Roman empire. The view of a Golden Age was changing from static to mutable, inspired by Rousseau and Winckelmann in response to the dynamic growth of society. The wider perspective on the past created a new way of expression. Artists developed a greater self-consciousness in confronting the limited authority of the ancient world, and there was a growing interest in civilizations and the destiny of nations. Piranesi was especially interested in the Graeco-Roman debate in the 1760s, between followers of Winckelmann who thought Greek culture and architecture superior to their Roman counterparts, and those who (like Piranesi) believed that the Romans had improved upon their Greek models. His free relationship to the past may be summarized in a phrase of his that become a mantra: "col sporcar si trova"; "by messing about, one discovers". Throughout his lifetime, Piranesi created numerous prints depicting the Eternal City; these were widely collected by gentlemen on the Grand Tour. The Lobkowicz Collections, housed at the
Lobkowicz Palace The Lobkowicz Palace ( cs, Lobkowický palác) is a part of the Prague Castle complex in Prague, Czech Republic. It is the only privately owned building in the Prague Castle complex and houses the Lobkowicz Collections and Museum. The palace wa ...
in
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
, contains a group of twenty-six of his engravings.


The ''Prisons'' (''Carceri'')

The ''Prisons'' (''Carceri d'invenzione'' or 'Imaginary Prisons'), is a series of 16 prints produced in first and second states that show enormous subterranean vaults with stairs and mighty machines. The series was started in 1745. The first state prints were published in 1750 and consisted of 14 etchings, untitled and unnumbered, with a sketch-like look. The original prints were 16" x 21". For the second publishing in 1761, all the etchings were reworked and numbered I–XVI (1–16). Numbers II and V were new etchings to the series. Numbers I to IX were all done in portrait format (vertical), while X to XVI were
landscape format Page orientation is the way in which a rectangular page is oriented for normal viewing. The two most common types of orientation are ''portrait'' and ''landscape''. The term "portrait orientation" comes from visual art terminology and describes ...
(horizontal+). In the second publishing, some of the illustrations appear to have been edited to contain (likely deliberate) impossible geometries.


Archaeologist

It is important to look at his contribution as an archaeologist, which was acknowledged at the time as he had been elected to the
Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...
. His influence of technical drawings in antiquarian publications is often overshadowed. He left explanatory notes in the lower margin about the structure and ornament. Most ancient monuments in Rome were abandoned in fields and gardens. Piranesi tried to preserve them with his engravings. To do this, Piranesi pushed himself to achieve realism in his work. A third of the monuments in Piranesi's engravings have disappeared, and the stucco and surfacings were often stolen, or restored and modified clumsily. Piranesi's precise observational skills allow people to experience the atmosphere in Rome in the eighteenth century. Piranesi may have recognised his role of disseminating remarkable information through meaningful images. He became the Director of the Portici Museum in 1751.


Contemporary references

*The International Piranesi Award for architecture, awarded annually since 1989. *The Franco-Belgian comic ''
La Tour La Tour may refer to: Places Canada * Port La Tour, Nova Scotia France * La Tour, Alpes-Maritimes * La Tour, Haute-Savoie * La Tour-Blanche, Dordogne * La Tour-d'Aigues, Vaucluse * La Tour-d'Auvergne, Puy-de-Dôme * La Tour-de-Salvagny, Rhà ...
'' features designs based on Piranesi's ''Imaginary Prisons'' and a main character called "Giovanni Battista" after Piranesi. *The titular character in
Susanna Clarke Susanna Mary Clarke (born 1 November 1959) is an English author known for her debut novel ''Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell'' (2004), a Hugo Award-winning alternative history. Clarke began ''Jonathan Strange'' in 1993 and worked on it during her ...
's 2020 novel, who lives in an unimaginably vast, maze-like house. *Piranesi is the name of a mutable, inscrutable prison surrounded by statues of impossible geometry, featured in the Sunless Skies video game.


References

;Attribution *


Further reading

* * * * * *Tafuri, Manfredo. (1976). Architecture and Utopia. Design and Capitalist Development. Cambridge, MA/London: MIT Press. tr. Barbara Luigia La Penta. * * * *Zarucchi, Jeanne Morgan (2012). "The Literary Tradition of 'Ruins of Rome' and a New Consideration of Piranesi's Staffage Figures," ''Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies'', 35:3, pp. 359–80. *


External links

;Opere di Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1835–1839)
Wikiart.org
Collected Piranesi works in hi-rez, ''Vedute di Roma'', ''Carceri'', ''Le antichità Romane'' and Collection of drawings engraved after Guercino.
All images from that 29 volumes complete works edition
(English interface with Italian and French text; from General Library, University of Tokyo) ;Antichita Romanae
''Antichita Romanae'' (1748)
(914 pages in 17 volumes; from BNF)

(Hi-res images from "Vedute di Roma", vol. 17 of "Antichita Romanae"; digitized by Leyden university)
''Ancient Rome'' (1748)
(87 hi-res pics, jpg ) ;Carceri

(images from the exhibition of the Carceri, low-res)
First state of ''Carceri''
(1750; 14 sketches in hi-res; digitized by Leyden university)
''Carceri''
(Full hi-res Album, 16 pics)
Animation film as a walkthrough of the Carceri
(video 10 min 40 s) ;Other
Perspectives
(28 Works Depicting Perspective in Architecture)
Antichita Romane, 4 Architectural Etchings (1756)
Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room, William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library, University of Houston Digital Library.
Prints & People: A Social History of Printed Pictures
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Giovanni Battista Piranesi (see index)
Della Magnificenza Ed Architettvra De'Romani / De Romanorvm Magnificentia Et Architectvra
(Rome, 1761; digitized by
Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
)
Osservazioni Di Gio. Battista Piranesi sopra la Lettre de M. Mariette aux auteurs de la Gazette Littéraire de l'Europe
(Rome, 1765; digitized by Heidelberg university)


Promenades Of An Art Impressionist – Piranesi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piranesi, Giovanni Battista 1720 births 1778 deaths 18th-century archaeologists 18th-century Italian sculptors Classical archaeologists Classicist architecture Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Italian archaeologists Italian draughtsmen Italian engravers Italian etchers Italian male sculptors Italian vedutisti People from Mogliano Veneto Italian neoclassical painters 18th-century Italian male artists