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Interior spread of Ancient Roman architecture

Artists & Books

Opere di Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

1835-39


The Works of Giovanni Battista Piranesi reflect the lifelong obsession of the Venetian-born engraver Giovanni Battista Piranesi (c1720–78) with Roman architecture.

Combining the eye of an artist, the structural knowledge of an architect, and the painstaking fieldwork of an archaeologist, he documented the ruins of Classical Roman architecture at a time when many of these lay half-buried in otherwise deserted pasture lands.

The spectacular large plates he produced became an indispensable souvenir for the educated European travellers who were beginning to flock to Rome in the 18th century. Carried back to the travellers’ home countries, these volumes served as pattern books for the architecture and design of the Enlightenment.

They were published by Firmin-Didot in Paris.