giovanni battista piranesi italian archaeologist

Series/Book Title: Le Antichità Romane (The Antiquities of Rome), II Classification Prints Work Typeīook Date 1756 Culture Italian Persistent Link Physical Descriptions Technique Etching State, Edition, Standard Reference Number Edition 2nd, Italian Standard Reference Number Ficacci 215-277 Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Mrs. Title The Antiquities of Rome, II Other Titles Identification and Creation Object Number M2869.2 People Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Italian (Mogliano Veneto, Italy 1720 - 1778 Rome, Italy) His prints were collected widely some were acquired by Harvard graduates on the Grand Tour of Europe, and were subsequently donated to the university. In the frontispiece to the second volume, seen here, Piranesi etched a fantastical view of the intersection of two prominent roads - the Via Appia and the Via Ardentina - which he lined with monuments and tomb sculpture inspired by antiquities found outside the Roman walls. A fierce proponent of Roman superiority, he published the four-volume Antiquities of Rome in 1756, a project that won him membership in the London Society of Antiquaries. His imaginative portrayals of antiquity circulated widely throughout Europe, presenting antiquarian debates that pitted the artistic authority of ancient Greece against that of ancient Rome. Though he built relatively little, the Italian architect, archaeologist, etcher, and engraver Giovanni Battista Piranesi was hugely influential during the eighteenth century.

Giovanni battista piranesi italian archaeologist