View of the Pyramidal Tomb of Cestius, from Views of Rome
1750/59 · Etching on heavy ivory laid paper · Image: 38.6 × 53.8 cm (15 1/4 × 21 3/16 in.); Plate: 40.8 × 54.2 cm (16 1/8 × 21 3/8 in.); Sheet: 47.3 × 59.7 cm (18 5/8 × 23 9/16 in.)
Piranesi, View of the Pyramidal Tomb of Cestius, from Views of Rome, 1750/59. Etching on heavy ivory laid paper.
The Art Institute of Chicago · Clarence Buckingham 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.
Draw this
1 study of this work
