| Method | Etching |
| Artist | Giovanni Battista Piranesi |
| Published | [Firmin-Didot, Paris, 1836] |
| Dimensions | Image 630 x 415 mm, Plate 675 x 420 mm, Sheet 780 x 548 mm |
| Notes |
Plate 95 of Vasi, candelabri, cippi, sarcofagi, tripodi, lucerne, ed ornamenti antichi disegnati ed incisi dal Cav. Gio. Batt. Piranesi, depicting one of two identical altars dedicated to Apollo, found in the ruins of Pompey the Great's Villa at Albano, now part of the grounds of the Villa Doria Pamphilj. The plate is dedicated to 'That Noble Man, Mr Giambattista Collicola Montioni,' Chief Herald of the Vatican Apostolic Palace and patron of the arts. Pontifical backing was an important boost to the antiquarian interests of Piranesi and his contemporaries. The work from which this plate was drawn was intended in part to reinvigorate papal patronage following the death of Clement XIII in 1769. The Vasi, candelabri, cippi, sarcofagi, tripodi, lucerne, ed ornamenti antichi disegnati ed incisi dal Cav. Gio. Batt. Piranesi was published in two volumes in 1778, and collected together a range of single plates that Piranesi had issued over the preceding decade. As the title suggests, the work was a collection of detailed drawings of vases, funeral monuments, and various ornaments, intended as much as a seller's catalogue as an exercise in antiquarian illustration. Piranesi's collaborations with notable dealers of antiquities like Gavin Hamilton and Thomas Jenkyns meant that his skills as a restorator, decorator, and dealer in his own right were in high demand. Many of the antiquities featured in the Vasi, Candelabri, cippi... made their way into the collections of British grand tourists, as the dedications on the plates suggest. Giovanni Battista (also Giambattista) Piranesi (1720 – 1778) was an Italian artist famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric "prisons" (the Carceri d'Invenzione). He was a major Italian printmaker, architect and antiquarian. The son of a Venetian master builder, he studied architecture and stage design, through which he became familiar with Illusionism. During the 1740's, when Rome was emerging as the centre of Neoclassicism, Piranesi began his lifelong obsession with the city's architecture. He was taught to etch by Giuseppe Vasi and this became the medium for which he was best known. Wilton-Ely 990, F703, C601 Ex collection: Sir Howard Colvin. Condition: Good clean impression with full margins. Pressed centre fold. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £1,000.00 |
| Stock ID | 13474 |