Giovanni Battista Piranesi

View of Ponte Lugano on the Anio, from Views of Rome

1763, published 1800–07 · Etching on heavy ivory laid paper · Image: 45.2 × 66.1 cm (17 13/16 × 26 1/16 in.); Plate: 46.1 × 66.9 cm (18 3/16 × 26 3/8 in.); Sheet: 49.8 × 72.9 cm (19 5/8 × 28 3/4 in.)

View of Ponte Lugano on the Anio, from Views of Rome, Piranesi, 1763, published 1800–07
Art Institute of Chicago

Piranesi, View of Ponte Lugano on the Anio, from Views of Rome, 1763, published 1800–07. Etching on heavy ivory laid paper.

The Art Institute of Chicago · Elizabeth Hammond Stickney Collection

How to look at a Piranesi

  • Find the figures first. Then look at how big the architecture has become because of them.
  • Follow the gradient on the largest plane. It never bands.
  • Look at his skies: broken, directional lines, never flat hatching.

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1 study of this work

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