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Piranesi plates12/24/2023 ![]() Piranesi’s Carceri d’Invenzione, or prison fantasies, were first published as a series of 14 etchings in 1750. The design proves to be both highly technical and fanciful at the same time. The vantage point from which Piranesi renders the bridge is complicated, with the viewer forced to look through an anchoring arch on the side of the bridge in order to see the main path of the structure. Complete with loggias and arches, the Ponte Magnifico, a plate in the volume, held the story that it was erected by some imagined Roman emperor of unknown lineage, bearing his equestrian statue. The plates of his first publication, Prima Parte di Architettura e Prospettive, printed in 1743, were occupied with capricci, works of architectural fantasy and efforts to solve architectural problems. The creation of “unreal cities” moved him, and as he studied ancient structures, he drew buildings and architectural features purely out of his own mind. He would become an important figure to the Neoclassicists, known for his topographical engravings, of which he completed over 1,000 unique examples in his lifetime. After he moved to Rome in 1740, the dearth of practical architecture jobs led him to the tourism market, selling high-end souvenir etchings to the Grand Tour set. Born in 1720, the son of a stonemason and master builder, he spent 20 years training in architecture and stage design. Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s imagination was captivated by fantastic spaces. Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Paestum, Italy: Interior of the Basilica, from the West, 1777, pencil, brown and grey washes, pen and ink. Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Paestum, Italy: Interior of the Temple of Neptune from the West, 1777, black chalk, pencil, brown and grey washes, pen and ink Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Temple of Neptune, View of the Interior from the West, 1777, black chalk, pencil, brown and grey washes, pen and ink.
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