Giovanni Battista Piranesi was born on October 4, 1720 in Mogliano Veneto, in the family of a stone carver.
Education
In his youth, Piranesi devoted himself to work in his father's workshop. Subsequently, he began to study architecture with his uncle, engineer and architect Matteo Lucchesi, and later with architect Giovanni Scalfarotto, who focused in his work on the famous Andrea Palladio, the founder of Palladianism in architecture. Piranesi takes engraving lessons from the engraver Carlo Zucchi, brother of the famous painter Antonio Zucchi, and is actively engaged in self-education, studying treatises on architecture and works of ancient authors.
In 1740, Piranesi left Mogliano Veneto for Rome, where he got a job as a graphic designer at the residence of the Venetian ambassador in Rome. At this time, he studied the engravings of Giuseppe Vasi, a master of veduta (a genre of European painting), and the art of engraving on metal.
First works
The first works of Piranesi - engravings "Different Views of Rome" (Varie Vedute di Roma), 1741. and "The first part of architecture and perspective", (Prima Parte di architettura e Prospettive), 1743, are made in the style of Giuseppe Vasi, with a spectacular play of shadow and light. Piranesi combines on engravings both real-life architectural works and fictional ones.
In 1745, Piranesi published in Rome a series of engravings “Fantasies on the Theme of Prisons” (Piranesi G.B. Carceri d’ Invenzione), which later had great success. It was not by chance that the word “fantasy” was used in the name of the series - it was the so-called “paper architecture”, not embodied in reality.
Piranesi improves his skills by studying the engravings of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and the work of the painter Canaletto Giovanni Antonio. Their influence is felt in the following works of Piranesi - "Views of Rome" (Vedute di Roma), 1746-1748, "Grotesque" (Grotteschi), 1747-1749, Prisons (Carceri), 1749-1750.
English cafe
In 1760, Piranesi decorates the English Cafe (Babingtons), in Rome in Piazza di Spagna, trying to express his own idea that architecture without diversity will be reduced to craft.
Church of Santa Maria del Priorato
The main architectural work of Piranesi is the church of Santa Maria del Priorato designed by him, built in 1764 - 1765. The temple is an example of neoclassicism in architecture. The dimensions of the building are 31 by 13 m. The church is an integral part of the residence of the Order of Malta.
In 1765, Piranesi built Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta in Rome, which, like the Church of Santa Maria del Priorato located on it, also belongs to the Order of Malta.
In 1765, Piranesi built Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta in Rome, which, like the Church of Santa Maria del Priorato located on it, also belongs to the Order of Malta.
The most significant works of Piranesi:
1. A series of engravings “Fantasy on the theme of prisons” (Piranesi G.B. Carceri d’ Invenzione), 1745;
2. A series of engravings "Views of Rome" (Vedute di Roma), 1746-1748;
3. A series of engravings "Grotesque" (Grotteschi), 1747-1749;
4. A series of engravings "Prisons" (Carceri), 1749-1750.
5. English Cafe (Babingtons), Rome, Piazza di Spagna, 1760;
Giovanni Battista Piranesi(Italian Giovanni Battista Piranesi, or Italian Giambattista Piranesi; October 4, Mogliano Veneto (near the city of Treviso) - November 9, Rome) - Italian archaeologist, architect and graphic artist, master of architectural landscapes. He had a strong influence on subsequent generations of romantic style artists and - later - on the surrealists. He made a large number of drawings and drawings, but erected few buildings, therefore the concept of " paper architecture" is associated with his name.
Piranesi, Arch of Titus
Piranesi, from the series Dungeons
Piranesi, leaf View of the Basilica of Saint Giovanni Laterano
Biography
Born in the family of a stonemason. He learned the basics of Latin and classical literature from his older brother Angelo. He comprehended the basics of architecture while working in the magistrate of Venice under the guidance of his uncle. As an artist, he was significantly influenced by the art of the Vedutists, which was very popular in the middle of the 18th century in Venice.
In 1743 he published in Rome his first series of engravings entitled "The first part of architectural sketches and perspectives invented and engraved by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, a Venetian architect." In it you can see the main features of his style - the desire and ability to depict monumental and difficult to comprehend by the eye architectural compositions and spaces. Some sheets of this small series are similar to engravings of Piranesi's most famous series, Fantastic Images of Prisons.
In the next 25 years, until his death, he lived in Rome; created a huge number of engravings, depicting mainly architectural and archaeological finds associated with ancient Rome, and views of the famous places of that Rome, which surrounded the artist. Piranesi's performance, like his skill, is incomprehensible. He conceives and produces a multi-volume edition of etchings under the general title "Roman Antiquities", containing images of architectural monuments of ancient Rome, capitals of columns of ancient buildings, sculptural fragments, sarcophagi, stone vases, candelabra, paving slabs, tombstones, building plans and urban ensembles. .
Throughout his life he worked on a series of engravings "Views of Rome" (Vedute di Roma). These are very large sheets (on average, about 40 cm high and 60-70 cm wide), which have preserved for us the appearance of Rome in the 18th century. The admiration of the ancient civilization of Rome and the understanding of the inevitability of its death, when modern people are busy with their modest daily affairs on the site of majestic buildings, is the main motive of these engravings.
In the classical world, he [Piranesi] was not so much attracted by the greatness of creation as by the greatness of destruction. His imagination was struck not so much by the works of human hands as by the touch of the hand of time on them. In the spectacle of Rome, he saw only the tragic side of things, and therefore his Rome came out even more grandiose than it had ever been in reality.
Interest in the ancient world manifested itself in archeology. A year before his death, Piranesi explored the ancient Greek temples at Paestum, then almost unknown, and created a beautiful series of large engravings dedicated to this ensemble.
In the field of practical architecture, Piranesi's activity was very modest, although he himself never forgot to add the words "Venetian architect" after his name on the title pages of his engraving suites. But in the 18th century, the era of monumental construction in Rome had already ended.
After the death of the artist, his family moved to Paris, where, among other things, the works of Giovanni Battista Piranesi were sold in their engraving shop. Engraved copper plates were also transported to Paris. Subsequently, after changing several owners, they were acquired by the Pope and are currently located in Rome, in the State Calcography.
Gallery
Main works
- Opere di Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Francesco Piranesi e d'altri (unavailable link) (1835-1839)
Notes
Literature
- S. A. Toropov. Piranesi. - M.: Publishing House of the All-Union Academy of Architecture, 1939.
- Rossi F. On the influence of Piranesi on the work of Cameron in the interiors of Tsarskoe Selo // Italian collection. - St. Petersburg, No. 5. - S. 107-120.
- Norbert Miller. Archaeologie des Traums: Versuchüber Giovanni Battista Piranesi. - Munich; Vienna: Hanser, 1978.
Categories:
- Personalities in alphabetical order
- October 4
- Born in 1720
- People from Mogliano Veneto
- Deceased November 9
- Deceased in 1778
- Dead in Rome
- Artists in alphabetical order
- Italian architects
- Italian artists
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .
See what "Piranesi, Giovanni Battista" is in other dictionaries:
- (Piranesi) (1720-1778), Italian engraver and architect. He was influenced by ancient architecture, as well as the theatrical art of the Baroque. He worked in a manner that combined etching with engraving, created architectural fantasies that amaze ... ... Art Encyclopedia
- (Piranesi) (1720-1778), Italian engraver. The graphic "architectural fantasies" of Piranesi amaze with the grandiosity of spatial constructions, dramatic light and shade contrasts (the cycle "Views of Rome", published in 1748 1788). * * * PIRANESI Giovanni ... encyclopedic Dictionary
Piranesi Giovanni Battista (October 4, 1720, Mogliano, Veneto, - November 9, 1778, Rome), Italian engraver and architect. He was influenced by ancient architecture, as well as baroque theatrical decorative art (Galli Bibbiena and others). Working in… … Great Soviet Encyclopedia
- (Piranesi, Giovanni Battista) (1720-1778), Italian engraver and architect. Born October 4, 1720 in Mogliano near Mestre. He studied in Venice with his father, who was a bricklayer, with his uncle, an engineer and architect, and with some other masters. From 1740... Collier Encyclopedia
- (Italian Giovanni Battista Piranesi, or Giambattista Piranesi; 1720 1778) Italian archaeologist, architect and graphic artist, master of architectural landscapes. He had a strong influence on subsequent generations of artists of the romantic style and later on ... Wikipedia
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian Giovanni Battista Piranesi, or Giambattista Piranesi; 1720 1778) Italian archaeologist, architect and graphic artist, master of architectural landscapes. He had a strong influence on subsequent generations of artists ... ... Wikipedia
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian Giovanni Battista Piranesi, or Giambattista Piranesi; 1720 1778) Italian archaeologist, architect and graphic artist, master of architectural landscapes. He had a strong influence on subsequent generations of artists ... ... Wikipedia
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian Giovanni Battista Piranesi, or Giambattista Piranesi; 1720 1778) Italian archaeologist, architect and graphic artist, master of architectural landscapes. He had a strong influence on subsequent generations of artists ... ... Wikipedia
- (1720 78) Italian engraver. The graphic architectural fantasies of Piranesi amaze with the grandiosity of spatial constructions, dramatic light and shade contrasts (cycle Views of Rome, published in 1748 88) ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Alexandra Lorenz
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian Giovanni Battista Piranesi, or Giambattista Piranesi; 1720–1778) was an Italian archaeologist, architect and graphic artist, engraver, draftsman, master of architectural landscapes. Born October 4, 1720 in Mogliano near Mestre. He studied in Venice with his father, who was a bricklayer, with his uncle, an engineer and architect, and with some other masters. From 1740 to 1744 he studied engraving technique with Giuseppe Vasi and Felice Polanzani in Rome; there in 1743 he published his first series of engravings, the First Part of Architectural and Perspective Constructions (La parte prima di Architetture e Prospettive). Then he briefly returned to Venice, and from 1745 settled permanently in Rome. By the end of his life (he died November 9, 1778) Piranesi became one of the most famous citizens of Rome. He had a strong influence on subsequent generations of Romantic artists and, later, on the Surrealists.
Here is the Teatro di Marcello:
This is the modern look:
Immediately striking is the big difference in the safety of the building. Has it really worn out so much in less than 3 centuries? While it previously stood in excellent condition for more than a thousand years?
We note right away that what was obvious in the 1750s - we are rediscovering. The first floor of the building covered with sand. Giovanni writes: “The 1st floor of the theater is half visible, but earlier it and the one above it were the same in height”
It also hurts something else. The graph confidently depicts the underground part of the theater, a powerful foundation. Here is the second picture:
Here Piranesi draws in sufficient detail the structure of the foundation of the Theater. Was he excavating? It can be judged from the image that for such a drawing it is required not only to excavate, but also to disassemble part of the building.
So Giovaniya used more ancient sources, building his images. The ones we don't have.
I draw your attention to the details of the design:
The famous "nipples" on the blocks. Just like in South America!
Accuracy in the manufacture of cycloscopic blocks.
Unprecedented power of the building. By our standards - unjustified. Studying the architecture of Rome, I cannot get rid of this thought - everything is done very firmly, reliably, precisely. Construction costs are incredible!
The builders of Rome had a deep knowledge of sopromat. Here and in other drawings that I will post later, you can see how the masonry in huge blocks repeats the load diagrams. Modern construction such "freaks" are not available.
A pile base is used. I do not presume to give an assessment of such a solution under stone buildings, but perhaps it was the piles, being a “cushion”, that protected the building from strong earthquakes. And they didn't rot?
Complex curly grooves, channels, protrusions, dovetails - all this indicates that the blocks were made by casting or by another plasticization method.
As elsewhere in Rome, backfilling with rubble and rubble of the internal cavities of the walls is used.
First of all, the super-powerful foundations of buildings and structures are striking. For example, this bridge:
Any architect, builder will tell you: “Now they don’t build like that. It's expensive, it's not rational, it's not necessary"
This is not a bridge, but some kind of pyramid! How many stone blocks. How difficult is it to make them. How strong they are. How exactly. How much labor, transport work, calculations are needed. Eighteen exclamation marks. And more questions.
Here are the ancient walls and foundations:
Impressive? Why such power? Defend yourself against a cannonball or a bronze-tipped log?
Here is beauty, a diagram of stresses in stone. Famous "nipples", incredible fit. The high culture of construction and knowledge in the field of strength materials is striking.
And here is our favorite bridge:
It still stands - a bridge built by Emperor Elius Adriano:
It looks like a normal bridge. And what is his basis?
When compared, the changed water level immediately catches the eye. All grandiose structures remained hidden from view.
I will also draw your attention to the mountains of sand in the drawing by Giovanni. “D is the sand deposited in times…” I could not find the translation of this mysterious word. And the Italian friends could not help. What are the times? I think the word was changed on purpose. To be unable to translate. Either all references to these times have been wiped clean from history.
Again a mystery.
Here is a drawing of the bridge support. Why such power? And pay attention to the fact that the blocks are fastened together. And again a pillow of piles.
Here is another bridge. The same powerful single structure of the bridge supports with its body and a common foundation below.
It seems that the builders were faced with the task of resisting powerful earthquakes. Obviously, our planet during these times, when it was expanding rapidly, was subject to very strong seismic activity. Perhaps, the streams of water and mudflow as a result of titanic showers or the melting of huge amounts of snow and ice in the mountains had crushing power.
Of course, the power of the construction industry, which was at their disposal, is also striking. Against the background of these drawings, the construction of both the Trojan ramparts, and the Serpents and the pyramids becomes more understandable. I do not believe that only using the draft power of cattle and slaves, it was possible to build such a thing.
I want to draw your attention to the configuration of the blocks that make up the steps of the amphitheaters:
Well, I would like to note once again: Giovanni Piranesi had access to certain archives where the construction drawings of these ancient structures were stored. I believe that one should also look for drawings of the Cologne Cathedral, Notre Dame Cathedral and other temples, the builders of which “in one night the devil whispered how to build a temple)))))
And most likely, you need to look for these documents in the Vatican. Because the church wished in its time to appropriate the fruits of the labor of a "different" civilization. She later told me that it was Pope So-and-so who laid the first stone in the foundation of the temple. Weighing 600 tons!
It is in the vaults of the Vatican that answers to many secrets await us! Surely, books from the "burned" libraries of the world got there.
"Piranesi. Before and after. Italy - Russia. XVIII-XXI centuries. Part I
From September 20 to November 13, the Pushkin Museum hosted the exhibition “Piranesi. Before and after. Italy - Russia. XVIII-XXI centuries.
The exposition includes more than 100 etchings by the master, engravings and drawings of his predecessors and followers, casts, coins and medals, books, as well as cork models from the collection of the Scientific Research Museum at the Russian Academy of Arts, graphic sheets from the Cini Foundation (Venice), Scientific and Research Museum of Architecture named after A.V. Shchusev, the Museum of the History of the Moscow School of Architecture at the Moscow Institute of Architecture, the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, the Yakov Chernikhov International Architectural Charitable Foundation. For the first time, the attention of the Russian audience will be offered Piranesi engraving boards, provided by the Central Institute of Graphics (Roman Calcography). In total, about 400 works were exhibited at the exhibition. The exhibition covers a much wider range of issues and goes far beyond the limits of the artist's own work. "Do" are Piranesi's predecessors, as well as his direct teachers; "After" - artists and architects of the late XVIII-XIX centuries, up to the XXI century.
white hall 
The White Hall is dedicated to Antiquity. Piranesi throughout his life was engaged in the study of ancient Rome, giving the world a number of major archaeological discoveries. For the first time, Russian visitors will be able to see sheets from the master's most important theoretical works, primarily the four-volume work "Roman Antiquities" (1756) and others. Piranesi described the surviving monuments of ancient Rome, reconstructed the topography of the ancient city, captured the disappearing remains of ancient monuments.
Piranesi was not only a tireless research engraver, but also an enterprising person who successfully used his talent and knowledge for commercial purposes. From the second half of the 1760s, he took part in excavations and began to recreate monuments of ancient art, selling them along with engravings.
Pope Clement XIII and other members of the Rezzonico family patronized Piranesi, encouraging his creative ideas. In addition to the grandiose, never realized project of 1760 to rebuild the altar and the western part of the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, in 1764-1766 Piranesi reconstructed the church of the Order of Malta Santa Maria del Piorato on the Avetine Hill in Rome, and also designed a number of interiors in the residence of the pope in Castel Gandolfo and his successors - Cardinal Giovanni Battista Rezzonico and Senator of Rome Abbondio Rezzonico.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi Portrait of Pope Clement XIII. Frontispiece to the series "On the grandeur and architecture of the Romans ..." 1761 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
Giovanni Battista Piranesi Urns, tombstones and vases at Villa Corsini. . Sheet from the series "Roman Antiquities" 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
The engraving depicts funerary urns, stelae, tombstones found in the gardens of the Villa Corsini behind Porta San Pancrazio in Rome (Trastevere district). It is believed that Piranesi used the alternation of funerary urns and stelae when designing the fence of the church of the Order of Malta, Santa Maria del Piorato. This church is the only building built by Piranesi.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi Interior view of the tomb of Lucius Arruntius. Sheet from the series "Roman Antiquities" 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
Tomb of Lucius Arrucius - a complex of three columbariums, rooms with semicircular niches for storing urns with the ashes of slaves and descendants of the statesman, consul of the 6th year, historian Lucius Arruncius. The burial was discovered in 1736, and in the 19th century the tomb was completely destroyed.
Gravestone of Lucius Volumnius Heracles Plaster tinted, cast in the form Original: marble, 1 c, kept in the Lateran Museum, Rome Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
Altar-shaped tombstones were very popular in the funeral rites of Italy during the early imperial period. The original is made from a single block of marble with relief decorations on the pediment and sides. The upper part of the gravestone is designed in the form of a pillow with two bolsters, the curls of which are decorated with rosettes. A wreath with garlands is depicted in the central part of the semicircular pediment.
On the front side of the tombstone, in a frame, there is an inscription with a dedication to the gods of the underworld - manns - and a mention of the name of the deceased and his age; under it is the mask of the Gorgon Medusa, framed by the figures of swans. At the corners of the monument there are masks of rams, under which images of eagles are placed. The side parts of the gravestone are decorated with garlands of leaves and fruits hanging from ram's horns.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi "View of the ancient Appeva Way". Sheet from the series "Roman Antiquities" 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
One of the main themes in the art of Piranesi is the theme of the grandeur of ancient Roman architecture. In many ways, this greatness was achieved thanks to engineering and technical skills. The engraving depicts a preserved paved section of the ancient Apian Way, the Queen of the Roads, as the Romans called it.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi Title page for Volume II "Roman Antiquities" 1756 Etching, cutter, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
In the essay "Roman Antiquities" Piranesi showed an increased interest in funerary structures. In the study of the tombs containing numerous works of art, the artist saw the way to the revival of the greatness of Rome and its culture. Before Piranesi, Pietro Santi Bartoli, Pier Leon Ghezzi and others turned to the study and documentation of ancient Roman tombs. Their writings had a significant impact on the artist, but Piranesi goes beyond simply fixing the external and internal appearance of the tombs. His compositions are full of dynamics and drama.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi "Tomb located in a vineyard on the road to Tivoli". Sheet from the series "Roman Antiquities" 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
The engraving shows a tomb located in a vineyard on the road to Tivoli. The artist demonstrates the appearance of the tomb, depicting it in the foreground from a low point of view. Thanks to this, the structure stands out against the background of the landscape and rises above the viewer.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi "Large sarcophagus and candelabra from the mausoleum of St. Constance in Rome". Sheet from the series "Roman Antiquities" 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
The engraving shows a sarcophagus and a candelabra found in the mausoleum of Constance (c. 318-354), daughter of Emperor Constantine the Great. Piranesi reproduced one of the sides of the porphyrated sarcophagus depicting vines and Cupids crushing grapes. The side of the lid is decorated with a Silenus mask and a garland. As Piranesi noted, the marble chandelier serves as a model for artists in the 15th century, and remains a model for lovers of beauty. Currently, the sarcophagus and chandelier are kept in the Pio Clementine Museum in Rome.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi "Fragment of the facade of the tomb of Caecilia Metella". Sheet from the suite "Views of Rome" 1762 Etching, cutter, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
Piranesi quite accurately reproduced the upper part of the tomb of Caecilia Metella with a dilapidated cornice and a frieze decorated with bull skulls and garlands. The name of the buried woman is inscribed on the marble slab: Caecilia Metella, daughter of Quintus of Crete, wife of Crassus.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi "Tomb of Caecilia Metella". Sheet from the suite "Views of Rome" 1762 Etching, cutter, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
Giovanni Battista Piranesi "Plan, facade, vertical section and masonry details of the tomb of Caecilia Metella". Sheet from the series "Roman Antiquities" 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
Several engravings of the series are dedicated to the tomb of Caecilia Metella. The massive cylindrical structure was erected around 50 BC. on the Appian Way near Rome. In the Middle Ages, it was turned into a castle with a battlement built on top in the form of "swallowtails". For a detailed depiction of the monument, Piranesi used a two-tier compositional scheme borrowed from Pietro Santi Bartolli from the book Ancient Tombs ”(1697)
Giovanni Battista Piranesi "Adjustments for lifting large traventine stones used in the construction of the tomb of Caecilia Metella." Sheet from the series "Roman Antiquities" 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin.
Piranesi's engraving depicts metal devices for lifting massive stone slabs, one of which was familiar to Piranesi's contemporaries under the name "ulivella". It was believed that Vitruvius wrote about it in the 1st century BC under the name "tanaglia", and in the 15th century it was rediscovered by another architect, Filippo Bruneleschi. According to Piranesi, the instruments of Vitruvius and Bruneleschi are different from each other and the advantage was behind the ancient, easier to use
Giovanni Battista Piranesi "The Underground Part of the Foundation of the Mausoleum of the Emperor Hadrian". Sheet from the series "Roman Antiquities" 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
The engraving shows the underground part of the foundation of the Mausoleum of Hadrian (Castle of the Holy Angel). The artist greatly exaggerated the size of the structure, depicting only part of a giant vertical ledge (buttress). The artist admires the regularity and beauty of ancient masonry, revealing the plasticity of stones with the help of sharp light and shade contrasts.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi View of the bridge and mausoleum. erected by Emperor Hadrian. Sheet from the series "Roman Antiquities" 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
The Mausoleum of Emperor Hadrian (Castle of the Holy Angel) has repeatedly become the object of close attention of Piranesi. The tomb was built under the emperor Hadrian around 134-138. The ashes of many representatives of the imperial house rested here. In X, the building was taken over by a patrician of the Creshenci family, who turned the tomb into a fortress. In the 13th century, under Pope Nicholas III, the castle was connected to the Vatican Palace and became the papal citadel. A prison was set up in the lower rooms.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Mausoleum and Bridge of Emperor Hadrian. Sheet from the series "Roman Antiquities" 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
This large sheet consists of 2 prints, conceived as a single unit and printed from 2 boards.
Left side. The artist showed a section of the bridge with an underground part and carefully reproduced the underground masonry. He gives curious details of the construction of the bridge piers: it was believed that Hadrian either directed the Tiber in another direction, or blocked its channel with a palisade, allowing it to flow on one side. Piranesi admired the strength of the structure, which can withstand frequent floods. In 3 center arched openings, the water level in the Tiber is shown depending on the season (from left to right V) December, June and August. Interestingly, the artist supplemented the technical drawing with landscape elements with views of the banks of the Tiber.
The wall of the mausoleum and its underground part are depicted on the right side. As Piranesi writes, the mausoleum “was covered with rich marbles, decorated with numerous statues depicting people, horses, chariots and other most valuable sculptures that Hadrian collected on a journey through the Roman Empire; now, devoid of ˂…˃ all its ornaments ˂…˃, it looks like a large, shapeless mass of masonry.” At a later time, the upper part of the mausoleum (A-B) was faced with brick. The artist also suggested that the height of the tower of the mausoleum is 3 times the height of the foundation (F-G). Piranesi paid great attention to the underground part of the structure, built from rows of tuff, traventine and stone fragments, reinforced with buttresses and special arches (M).
Giovanni Battista Piranesi - Entrance to the Upper Room of the Mausoleum of the Emperor Hadrian. Sheet from the series "Roman Antiquities" 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin.
The entrance leading to the upper room of the mausoleum of Emperor Andrian is depicted. In the 16th-17th centuries it was used for court sessions and was called the Hall of Justice. The entrance is made of huge blocks of travesty stone, so powerful and durable that Piranesi compared them to the famous Egyptian pyramids. As the artist noted, the arch is excellently reinforced on the sides, as it is forced to withstand the enormous weight of the masonry above it. The protrusions that were used to lift the blocks during construction are clearly visible on the stone.
In 1762, a new work by Pironesi was published, dedicated to the topography of the Field of Mars - the middle of ancient Rome - a vast territory on the left bank of the Tiber, bordering the Capitol, the Quirinal and the Pincio hill. This theoretical work consisted of a text based on classical sources; and 50 engravings, including a huge topographic map of the Field of Mars, "Iconography" with which Piranesi began work on the collection.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi "The 'Iconography' or Plan of the Campus Martius of Ancient Rome". 1757 Sheet from the series “The Field of Mars of Ancient Rome”, a work by G. B. Piranesi, a member of the Royal Society of Antiquarians of London. 1762" Etching, cutter, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
In 1757 Piranesi engraved a huge map-reconstruction of the Campus Martius of the late empire. This idea was prompted to the artist by an ancient monumental plan of ancient Rome, carved on marble slabs under Emperor Septimius Severus in 201-0211. A fragment of this plan was discovered in 1562 and was kept at the time of Piranesi in the Capitoline Museum. Piranesi dedicated the plan to the Scottish architect Robert Adam, a friend of the artist. It is believed that it was Adam who persuaded him to start working on the composition of the Field of Mars from this map, the most important work of the master, which became the Anthology of Architectural Ideas!, which excited the imagination of architects until the 21st century.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi Capitoline Stones…1762” Etching, cutter, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
The title page is made in the form of a stone slab with a Latin name carved on it. The slab is decorated with reliefs pointing to the glorious past of Rome and its rulers. Above, among the mythological characters, the founders of the city, Romulus and Remus, are represented, and on ancient coins, major statesmen are depicted - Julius Caesar, Lucius Brutus, Emperor Octavian Augustus. Piranesi uses decorative motifs traditional for ancient Roman art: garlands of laurel branches, cornucopia, ram's heads. The same motifs appear in Piranesi's projects of applied things.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi "Theatres of Balba, Marcellus, Statius Taurus Amphitheater, Pantheon" from the series "Field of Mars" ... 1762 "Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
Piranesi reconstructs the densely built-up quarters of the ancient Campus Martius from a bird's eye view.
The upper engraving on the left shows a stone theater built by Lucius Cornelius Balbus the Younger, a Roman general and playwright in 13 BC. On the right is another theatrical building - the theater of Marcellus, the second stone theater in Rome (after the theater of Pompey)
The middle engraving shows the famous Pantheon and the gardens behind it, the artificial lake and the Baths of Agrippa.
Below is the first stone amphitheater in Rome, built in 29 BC, in the square in front of it - a sundial, installed by order of Emperor Augustus. These reconstructions had a powerful impact on the formation of architecture, in particular, they significantly influenced the minds of Soviet architects of the 20th century.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi "Marble tablets with lists of Roman consuls and victors" sheets for the series "Capitoline Stones" Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
The engraving shows preserved marble tablets with a list of Roman consuls and victors from the founding of Rome to the reign of Emperor Tiberius (14-37). From the inscription carved on the upper slab, it follows that in ancient times the tablets were installed in the Roman Forum.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi "Examples of Roman Ionic capitals in comparison with Greek, righteous at Le Roy" sheets for the series "On the grandeur and architecture of the Romans" 1761 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
This sheet is Piranesi's graphic response to J.D. Le Roy "The ruins of the most beautiful monuments of Greece" 1758. Piranesi
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian Giovanni Battista Piranesi, or Italian Giambattista Piranesi; October 4, 1720, Mogliano Veneto (near the city of Treviso) - November 9, 1778, Rome) - Italian archaeologist, architect and graphic artist, master of architectural landscapes. He had a strong influence on subsequent generations of romantic style artists and - later - on the surrealists. He made a large number of drawings and drawings, but erected few buildings, so the concept of "paper architecture" is associated with his name.
Born in the family of a stonemason. He learned the basics of Latin and classical literature from his older brother Angelo. He comprehended the basics of architecture while working in the magistrate of Venice under the guidance of his uncle. As an artist, he was significantly influenced by the art of the Vedutists, which was very popular in the middle of the 18th century in Venice.
In 1740 he went to Rome as a graphic artist as part of the embassy delegation of Marco Foscarini. In Rome, he enthusiastically explored ancient architecture. Along the way, he studied in the workshop of Giuseppe Vasi the art of engraving on metal. In the years 1743-1747 he lived mostly in Venice, where, among other things, he worked with Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.
In 1743 he published in Rome his first series of engravings entitled "The first part of architectural sketches and perspectives, invented and engraved by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, a Venetian architect." In it you can see the main features of his style - the desire and ability to depict monumental and difficult to comprehend by the eye architectural compositions and spaces. Some sheets of this small series are similar to engravings of Piranesi's most famous series "Fantastic images of dungeons".
In the next 25 years, until his death, he lived in Rome; created a huge number of engravings, depicting mainly architectural and archaeological finds associated with ancient Rome, and views of the famous places of that Rome, which surrounded the artist. Piranesi's performance, like his skill, is incomprehensible. He conceives and produces a multi-volume edition of etchings under the general title "Roman Antiquities", containing images of architectural monuments of ancient Rome, capitals of columns of ancient buildings, sculptural fragments, sarcophagi, stone vases, candelabra, paving slabs, tombstones, building plans and urban ensembles. .
Throughout his life he worked on a series of engravings "Views of Rome" (Vedute di Roma). These are very large sheets (on average, about 40 cm high and 60-70 cm wide), which have preserved for us the appearance of Rome in the 18th century. The admiration of the ancient civilization of Rome and the understanding of the inevitability of its death, when modern people are busy with their modest daily affairs on the site of majestic buildings, is the main motive of these engravings.
A special place in the work of Piranesi is occupied by a series of engravings "Fantastic Images of Prisons", better known simply as "Dungeons". These architectural fantasies were first published in 1749. Ten years later, Piranesi returned to this work and created practically new works on the same copper plates. "Dungeons" are gloomy and frightening architectural structures with their size and lack of comprehensible logic, where the spaces are mysterious, just as the purpose of these stairs, bridges, passages, blocks and chains is incomprehensible. The power of stone structures is overwhelming. Creating the second version of the "Dungeon", the artist dramatized the original compositions: he deepened the shadows, added many details and human figures - either jailers or prisoners tied to torture devices.
Over the past decades, the fame and glory of Piranesi has been growing every year. More and more books about him are published and the best museums in the world organize exhibitions of his works. Piranesi is probably the most famous artist who gained such fame only by graphics, unlike other great engravers who were, in addition, great painters (
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian Giovanni Battista Piranesi, or Italian Giambattista Piranesi; October 4, 1720, Mogliano Veneto (near the city of Treviso) - November 9, 1778, Rome) - Italian archaeologist, architect and graphic artist, master of architectural landscapes. He had a strong influence on subsequent generations of artists of the romantic style and - later - on the surrealists. He made a large number of drawings and drawings, but erected few buildings, so the concept of "paper architecture" is associated with his name.
Born in the family of a stonemason. He learned the basics of Latin and classical literature from his older brother Angelo. He comprehended the basics of architecture while working in the magistrate of Venice under the guidance of his uncle. As an artist, he was significantly influenced by the art of vedutists, which was very popular in the middle of the 18th century in Venice.
In 1740 he went to Rome as a graphic artist as part of the embassy delegation of Marco Foscarini. In Rome, he enthusiastically explored ancient architecture. Along the way, he studied in the workshop of Giuseppe Vasi the art of engraving on metal. In 1743-1747 he lived mostly in Venice, where, among other things, he worked with Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.
In 1743 he published in Rome his first series of engravings entitled "The first part of architectural sketches and perspectives invented and engraved by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, a Venetian architect." In it you can see the main features of his style - the desire and ability to depict monumental and difficult to comprehend by the eye architectural compositions and spaces. Some sheets of this small series are similar to engravings of Piranesi's most famous series, Fantastic Images of Prisons.
In the next 25 years, until his death, he lived in Rome; created a huge number of engravings, depicting mainly architectural and archaeological finds associated with ancient Rome, and views of the famous places of that Rome, which surrounded the artist. Piranesi's performance, like his skill, is incomprehensible. He conceives and produces a multi-volume edition of etchings under the general title "Roman Antiquities", containing images of architectural monuments of ancient Rome, capitals of columns of ancient buildings, sculptural fragments, sarcophagi, stone vases, candelabra, paving slabs, tombstones, building plans and urban ensembles. .
Throughout his life he worked on a series of engravings "Views of Rome" (Vedute di Roma). These are very large sheets (on average, about 40 cm high and 60-70 cm wide), which have preserved for us the appearance of Rome in the 18th century. The admiration of the ancient civilization of Rome and the understanding of the inevitability of its death, when modern people are busy with their modest daily affairs on the site of majestic buildings, is the main motive of these engravings.
A special place in the work of Piranesi is occupied by a series of engravings "Fantastic Images of Prisons", better known as simply "Prisons". These architectural fantasies were first published in 1749. Ten years later, Piranesi returned to this work and created practically new works on the same copper boards. “Prisons” are gloomy and frightening architectural structures with their size and lack of comprehensible logic, where spaces are mysterious, just as the purpose of these stairs, bridges, passages, blocks and chains is incomprehensible. The power of stone structures is overwhelming. Creating the second version of "Prisons", the artist dramatized the original compositions: he deepened the shadows, added many details and human figures - either jailers or prisoners tied to torture devices.
Over the past decades, the fame and glory of Piranesi has been growing every year. More and more books about him are published and the best museums in the world organize exhibitions of his works. Piranesi is probably the most famous artist who gained such fame only by graphics, unlike other great engravers who were, in addition, great painters (Dürer, Rembrandt, Goya).
Interest in the ancient world manifested itself in archeology. A year before his death, Piranesi explored the ancient Greek temples at Paestum, then almost unknown, and created a beautiful series of large engravings dedicated to this ensemble.
In the field of practical architecture, Piranesi's activity was very modest, although he himself never forgot to add the words "Venetian architect" after his name on the title pages of his engraving suites. But in the 18th century, the era of monumental construction in Rome had already ended.
In 1763, Pope Clement XIII commissioned Piranesi to build a choir in the church of San Giovanni in Laterano. The main work of Piranesi in the field of real, "stone" architecture was the restructuring of the church of Santa Maria Aventina (1764-1765).
Died after a long illness; buried in the church of Santa Maria del Priorato.
After the death of the artist, his family moved to Paris, where, among other things, the works of Giovanni Battista Piranesi were sold in their engraving shop. Engraved copper plates were also transported to Paris. Subsequently, after changing several owners, they were acquired by the Pope and are currently located in Rome, in the State Calcography.
Sources - Wikipedia and
