Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Venice 1720-Rome 1778) was a prodigious and multi-talented scholar and artist: an antiquarian and archaeologist, an architect, draughtsman, print-maker as well as being an entrepreneur in publishing, sculpture restoration and in the art market; he was a leading figure in the arts and scholarship in Grand Tour Rome, famous throughout Europe. His magnificent printed books, focussing on the artistic and architectural achievements of the ancient Romans and views of the contemporary city, were widely collected by private libraries during his lifetime and now are conserved in public and university collections globally.
Out of the 139 Piranesi etchings in the Thomas Ashby collections at the BSR, about 100 were selected for a series of exhibitions (2021-2024), presented at BSR. This virtual exhibition is a small selection of the 2022 show, which was gathered loosely around a few themes; the Castel Sant’Angelo, originally the Mausoleum of Hadrian; images of ancient fresco painting inside the Pyramid of Cestius and views and maps of the Capitoline and Forum. The prints mostly come from the four Antichità Romane volumes (1756) and from the series of views of contemporary Rome that Piranesi made throughout his career; a rare and valuable decorated Catalogue sheet listing works available for sale is also included. We have chosen these six prints to reflect the variety of Piranesi’s interests - Roman topography, views of the modern city, evidence from contemporary archaeological sites and his commitment to the cause of promoting the excellence and creativity of ancient Roman design.
Introduction
