John Wilton-Ely

Arts Council of Great Britain

Piranesi

The Complete Etchings

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

The Mind and Art of Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Justly renowned as one of the finest printmakers of the eighteenth century, Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778) is best known for his etched views of Rome and its antiquities, as well as for his highly influential suite of drawings entitled "Carceri," or "Imaginary Prisons." Trained as an architect, Piranesi revolutionized architecture and design through his combination of decorative elements and ornamental motifs from the Egyptian, Etruscan, Greek and Roman styles; yet his work as the designer of interiors and furnishings has been largely uncelebrated until now. Published in conjunction with a major exhibition at the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, in 2007, "Piranesi as Designer" features ten accessible essays and more than 300 rare illustrations that explore the far-reaching impact of Piranesi's style on three centuries of architecture and design.

Piranesi as Designer

Catalogue (of an Exhibition, 1978)

A renowned scholar examines the beauty and impact of drawings and prints by Piranesi, as well as the Italian architect's relationship with his friend and colleague Sir John Soane. An 18th-century architect and printmaker, Giovanni Battista Piranesi was a lifelong champion of Rome, publishing more than 1,000 etchings of the Eternal City and its ancient monuments. Piranesi's English contemporary Sir John Soane was also an architect specializing in the neoclassical style. When the two artists met, they formed a profound and complex creative and intellectual relationship that nurtured Soane's later career. Among Soane's greatest legacies is the London museum that bears his name, and some of its most important holdings are a number of preparatory drawings Piranesi developed for a publication on the Greek temples at Paestum. These drawings are accomplished examples of Piranesi's topographical observation and great works of art in their own right. This book offers exquisite reproductions of the drawings as well as 30 additional works from Piranesi's oeuvre. Together they offer a unique understanding of early Greek classical architecture seen through the work of an 18th-century master.

Sammlungskat

Renowned as one of the finest printmakers of the eighteenth century, Giovanni Battista Piranesi is best known for his etched views of Rome and its antiquities, as well as for his highly influential suite of drawings entitled Carceri, or Imaginary Prisons. Trained as an architect, Piranesi revolutionized architecture and design through his combination of decorative elements and ornamental motifs from the Egyptian, Etruscan, Greek, and Roman styles; yet his work as the designer of interiors and furnishings has been largely uncelebrated. Published in conjunction with a major exhibition at the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Piranesi as Designer explores the far-reaching impact of Piranesi's modernist style on three centuries of architecture and design. 144 pages nearly 200 integrated color photographs

on the occasion of the Exhibition ... at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, September 14, 2007 - January 20, 2008 ...

Piranesi as designer

John Soane

Anthony Sutcliffe

Piranesi's name is usually connected with intriguing and mysterious etchings, but Giambattisa Piranesi (1720-1778) was also influential as an architect and decorative arts designer. This book examines his work, theories, and impact on the design of architecture and the decorative arts, and it is written by a widely recognized authority on Piranesi. This book, although short, is an in-depth study of Piranesi and his work in these fields, with discussions of his background and the influences on him, as well as how his designs evolved and became influential throughout Britain and Europe. As only one of Piranesi's architectural designs was ever actually executed, his significance as an architect ultimately rests on his extensive graphic production and his polemical publications, both of which are shown in this book to have been tremendously influential. This volume is copublished with The Pierpont Morgan Library New York, using many of its outstanding collection of Piranesi drawings and etchings.

John Wilton-Ely

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