| Method | Etching |
| Artist | Giovanni Battista Piranesi |
| Published | Piranesi del. inc. Presso l'Autore a Strada Felice nel Palazzo Tomati vicino alla Trinita de Monti. [1st Paris edition, 1800-1807] |
| Dimensions | Image 388 x 535 mm, Plate 405 x 540 mm, Sheet 525 x 755 mm |
| Notes |
Inscription to left and right of title reads: '1. Porta S. Paolo 2. Mura di Roma.' A view of the pyramid of Cestius, from the Vedute di Roma. The viewer is positioned above the roadway leading to the Porta San Paolo, in a position that roughly equates to the modern day Via Marmorata, looking beyond the city gate towards the Via Ostiense. The pyramid's funerary inscription, commemorating the Augustan era magistrate Gaius Cestius, can be seen on the steep slope to the right of the scene, above an area of scrubby land holding Rome's first Protestant cemetery, famous as the burial place of the English poets Percy Shelley and John Keats. To the left of the pyramid, a section of the 3rd century AD Aurelian walls can be seen, the crenelated medieval towers of which still stand today. In the foreground, on the roadway, a beggar holds his hand out towards a group of travellers. The Vedute di Roma was Piranesi's most popular and best known series, celebrating the churches, monuments, ruins, bridges, fountains, and public spaces of the city of Rome. The immense popularity of the series meant that they were in constant demand, and Piranesi continued to reissue and add to the series from the 1740s until his death in 1778. The Vedute were particularly popular with British grand tourists, and had a profound effect on the British Neoclassical movement. Demand was such that the series was reprinted numerous times after Piranesi's death, including two Paris editions published by his sons, Francesco and Pietro. 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. Hind 35.iv/vi, Wilton-Ely 146, Focillon 810, C795 Condition: Strong dark impression with full margins. Central vertical fold, as issued. Minor surface abrasion and dirt staining to margins. Framed in an ornate antique giltframe. |
| Framing | framed |
| Price | £2,000.00 |
| Stock ID | 50724 |