View of Piazza Navona above the ruins of the Circus of Domitian, from Views of Rome
1750/59 · Etching on heavy ivory laid paper · Image: 38.8 × 54.4 cm (15 5/16 × 21 7/16 in.); Plate: 41 × 55 cm (16 3/16 × 21 11/16 in.); Sheet: 45.8 × 59.7 cm (18 1/16 × 23 9/16 in.)
Piranesi, View of Piazza Navona above the ruins of the Circus of Domitian, from Views of Rome, 1750/59. Etching on heavy ivory laid paper.
The Art Institute of Chicago · The Charles Deering 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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