Dimensions: 49.5 x 66.7 cm (sheet)
'Veduta della Basilica e Piazza di S. Pietro in Vaticano', first state
State of preservation
framed work
Literature
Wilton-Ely 1994 / Giovanni Battista Piranesi, the complete etchings (136)
Hind 1922 / Giovanni Battista Piranesi, a critical study (3.I)
Focillon 1918 / Giovanni Battista Piranesi: Essai de catalogue raisonné de son oeuvre (787)
Biography
Italian graphic designer and architect. He studied in Venice, from where he traveled to Naples, Herculaneum and Pompeii for study. From 1745 he was active in Rome. His architectural works include the reconstruction of the church of S. Maria del Priorato (1765) and the villa of the Order of the Cavaliers of Malta in Rome. Piranesi's most important field of activity was his studies of architecture and ancient art (especially of Rome), supported by numerous travels, architectural research, measurements and drawings, which resulted in a very large number (more than 2,000) of graphic works (etchings, copper engravings), depicting views of ancient buildings, archaeological finds and architectural fantasies. In his engravings, Piranesi presented an evocative vision of ancient Roman architecture, in which, while maintaining fidelity to detail, he created synthetic views of ancient buildings, exaggerating them in striking perspective shots and dramatizing them through the use of strong chiaroscuro contrasts. Piranesi's engravings gained great popularity, influencing the spread of antiquity and the formation of classicism.