No Image

Gallery Text

Though he built relatively little, the Italian architect, archaeologist, etcher, and engraver Giovanni Battista Piranesi was hugely influential during the eighteenth century. 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. 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. 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. His prints were collected widely; some were acquired by Harvard graduates on the Grand Tour of Europe, and were subsequently donated to the university.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
M2869.2
People
Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Italian (Mogliano Veneto, Italy 1720 - 1778 Rome, Italy)
Title
The Antiquities of Rome, II
Other Titles
Series/Book Title: Le Antichità Romane (The Antiquities of Rome), II
Classification
Prints
Work Type
book
Date
1756
Culture
Italian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/57186

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. Henry Osborn Taylor in memory of her father William Bradley Isham
Accession Year
1925
Object Number
M2869.2
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 2240 18th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 04/09/2015; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 04/09/2015 - 11/05/2015; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/05/2015 - 04/28/2016; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 04/28/2016 - 10/06/2016

Related Objects

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu