| Method | Etching |
| Artist | Giovanni Battista Piranesi |
| Published | [Firmin-Didot, Paris, 1836] |
| Dimensions | Image 558 x 405 mm, Plate 680 x 425 mm, Sheet 778 x 545 mm |
| Notes |
Plate 59 of Vasi, candelabri, cippi, sarcofagi, tripodi, lucerne, ed ornamenti antichi disegnati ed incisi dal Cav. Gio. Batt. Piranesi, depicting the famous 'Piranesi Vase,' a marble urn featuring a frieze of satyrs at vintage, supported by three satyr-grotesques above a pedestal adorned with bulls-heads and garlands. The vase, now in the British Museum, was purchased from Piranesi's workshop by Sir John Boyd, Director of the East India Company, during his grand tour in 1776. Like many of the other works featured in the Vasi, candelabri, cippi..., this vase was an amalgam of fragments of ancient marble and 18th century restorations. The fragments used in the reconstruction came from Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli and probably derived from the excavations undertaken by Piranesi's colleague, the dealer Gavin Hamilton. The plate is dedicated to Piranesi's 'Dear Friend' and fellow architect, the Scottish Jacobite Mr James Byres. Aside from being an accomplished portrait painter, Byres also worked as a dealer in antiquities, and was involved in the sale of the Portland Vase to Sir William Hamilton. 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 942, F655, C563 Ex collection: Sir Howard Colvin Condition: Small marks to top left and bottom right of plate not affecting image, pressed centre fold. Otherwise good clean impression with full margins. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £1,000.00 |
| Stock ID | 13476 |