C1776

Veduta dell’Anfiteatro Flavio Detto il Colos…

Artist:

Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720 - 1778)

Rare early issue of Piranesi’s famous view of the Colosseum. Piranesi had previously created three views of the Colosseum, Rome’s most iconic ruin, and his mastery of perspective allowed him to capture this extraordinary aerial view of the ancient amphitheater. … Read Full Description

$A 4,750

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S/N: PIRANESI–492336

(MD17)

Categories: Architecture, Italy, ARCHITECTURAL & DESIGN, PRINTS & PHOTOGRAPHS, TOPOGRAPHICAL VIEWS, EUROPE

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Details

Full Title:

Veduta dell’Anfiteatro Flavio Detto il Colosseo

Date:

C1776

Artist:

Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720 - 1778)

Condition:

In good condition.

Technique:

Etching

Image Size:

705mm

x 490mm

Paper Size:

812mm

x 545mm

Genuine antique
dated:

1776

Description:

Rare early issue of Piranesi’s famous view of the Colosseum.

Piranesi had previously created three views of the Colosseum, Rome’s most iconic ruin, and his mastery of perspective allowed him to capture this extraordinary aerial view of the ancient amphitheater. By filling the entire sheet with the monument and placing tiny figures at its center, Piranesi powerfully conveys the immense scale of the ruin, while the bird’s-eye perspective unveils its architectural layout and structural form. His detailed labels reflect his meticulous antiquarian research, indicating the seating arrangements for various ranks of Roman society, from the emperor and his court to the young nobles with their tutors. The overall dark tone of the image, characteristic of Piranesi’s later Vedute, evokes the mood of moonlight illuminating the Colosseum—a setting he often studied during his explorations of ruins at night. Only the center of the arena, where small figures gather around the monumental cross, is bathed in light. This crucifix, along with the stations of the cross surrounding the arena, was installed by Pope Benedict XIV in 1743 to consecrate the space, believed to be the site where many early Christians were martyred.

From: Piranesi,G. Vedute di Roma.

References:
Wilton-Ely, J. Piranesi. London 1978 :: p. 302.
Focillon, H. Giovanni-Battista Piranesi Essai de Catalogie Raisonne de son Oeuvri. Paris 1918 ::.
Hind, A. Giovanni Battista Piranesi - A critical study with a list of his published works and detailed catalogues of the prisons and the views of Rome. London 1978 :: 126, 108.

Collections:
Met Museum New York: Object Number: 59.570.426 (1767)
Yale University Library & Art Gallery: 2012.159.11.126
:

Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720 - 1778)

Piranesi was an Italian Classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his etchings of Rome and his series on prisons, Le Carceri d'Invenzione. His father was a stonemason. His brother Andrea introduced him to Latin literature and ancient Greco-Roman civilization, and later he was apprenticed under his uncle, who was a leading architect in Magistrato delle Acque, the state organization responsible for engineering and restoring historical buildings. From 1740, he had an opportunity to work in Rome as a draughtsman for Marco Foscarini, the Venetian ambassador of the new Pope Benedict XIV. He resided in the Palazzo Venezia and studied under Giuseppe Vasi, who introduced him to the art of etching and engraving of the city and its monuments.

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