In spite of the fact that he grew up in the fantastic city of Venice, Giovanni Battista Piranesi was even more fascinated with the amazing city of Rome. He moved there in 1740, when he was twenty, and the city itself became his subject and Read More …
Carceri (“Prisons”) is a series of 14 (in a later state, 16) copperplate etchings by the 18th century Venetian artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi. These are wonderfully detailed architectural fantasies, full of the suggestion of dramatic scale and lavished with fascinating details. What appears to be Read More …
Part of a spacious and magnificent harbor for the use of the ancient Romans opening onto a large market square…, Giovanni Battista Piranesi Etching, engraving, drypoint and sulphur tint, 16×21″ (20x54cm). From a portfolio titled Various Works of Architecture, perspectives, grotesques, and antiquities; designed and Read More …
Trajan column with two Dacian wars (approximate title), Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Comics expert Scott McCloud has suggested that this kind of display (the physical carved versions that continue around the column) qualify as “comics”, i.e. pictures in sequence that tell a story. [Via Bibliodyssey]
18th Century Venetian artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi was famous for his set of etchings titled Carceri (“Prisons”), sometimes referred to as “Carceri d’invenzione“, or “Imaginary Prisons”. These were architectural fantasies that were more in keeping with grand imaginative stage sets than any real prisons, filled Read More …
18th Century Venetian artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi was famous for his elaborate engravings of the fantastic architectural ruins of Rome. He is even more well known for a set of 14 copper plate etchings titled Carceri (“Prisons”). These are architectural fantasies, “capricious inventions” as they Read More …