Vasi, Candelabri, Cippi, Sarcophagi, Tripodi Lucerne, et Ornamenti Antichi
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Warwick Vase on Pedestal |
Bronze Oil Lamps |
Basalt Mask Vase |
Marble Vase with Putti and Vines |
Curule Form Chair |
Vase with Tripod Base |
Marble Vase With Bucrania supporting garlands |
Ornamental Capital and |
Vase Ornamented With |
Capriccio of Classical Artifiacts - Title Page to Volume II |
Marble Relief Altar |
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Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778) (after)
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Giovanni Battista Piranesi was one of the leading figures in the development of the neoclassical style in the late 18th Century. As architect, archeologist, artist, designer, collector, and antiquities dealer, he and his son Francesco produced a series of etchings and engravings depicting the glories of ancient Rome. These fine prints served as source material for other architects and designers, such as his colleague, the great English neoclassical architect, Robert Adam, and were souvenirs for other English aristocrats on the Grand Tour in Italy.
Vasi...et Ornamenti Antichi was a collection of 110 etchings documenting large sculptural vases, together with other antiquities excavated (and in some cases created) in Italy in the 18th century. The prints were initially separately issued and sold by Piranesi over a period of several years and subsequently collected in two folio volumes, each with its own title page, in 1778. The plates were not originally numbered, but a numbering system was developed by the scholar John Wilton-Ely, who put them in chronological order based on historical records. Vasi...et Ornamenti Antichi illustrates a wide range of genuine antiquities, as well as Piranesi's own confections, from utilitarian objects such as cinerary urns, lamps, and sarcophagi to monumental vases. The plates in Vasi often included text by Piranesi with information about where the objects were discovered and their contemporary location, and the prints bore dedications to his patrons, colleagues, visitors and influential people. Piranesi included the spectacular Warwick Vase, a large Roman vessel that passed from Piranesi to his nephew the Earl of Warwick in 1774. Many of the antiquities shown in "Vasi" were sold to King Gustav III of Sweden by Francesco Piranesi, after his father's death, and can now be seen in the National Museum in Stockholm. Giovanni Battista Piranesi was a multi-talented and accomplished man of the enlightenment who combined supreme artistic ability and historical scholarship with an entrepreneurial business sense. He was at once an artist, architect, archeologist, designer, collector, and print and antiquities dealer. Many consider him one of the most influential artists in the development and popularization of the neoclassical style of the late 18th Century. According to scholar John Wilton-Ely, the distinguishing characteristics of Piranesi’s early works were “the unorthodox combination of classical motifs, the manipulation of superhuman scale, the organization of powerfully receding perspectives upon diagonal axes, and the modulation of space by means of skilful lighting.” Piranesi’s work was recognized with his election as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in England in 1757. He was knighted by the Pope in 1765. Although Piranesi composed and etched many of his works, his son Francesco (1758-1810) and studio assistants such as Vincenzo Dolcibene also etched a significant number of the prints, especially in later years. Piranesi etched and published numerous folio print sets of art, architecture and archaeology of Rome and environs, that served as source material for other architects and designers. They were sold as souvenirs to English aristocrats on the Grand Tour in Italy or by subscription directly to British patrons. Among those influenced by Piranesi was the great British architect Robert Adam (1728-92), who was a colleague of Piranesi while in Rome on the Grand Tour in the 1750s. From the 1760s onward, Piranesi supplemented his printing business by joining the thriving trade in the restoration and sale antiquities to Grand Tour travelers. Piranesi's interest in these objects went well beyond historical restoration and marketing -- he also advocated emulating the creativity of the Roman designers and integrating motifs from Greek and Roman antiquities with a contemporary sensibility to produce new and strikingly original works. The British were particularly good customers, so he set up his workshop and showrooms close to the British quarter of Rome. After Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s death in 1778, Francesco and another son, Pietro, continued to republish Piranesi prints and sell antiquities. |