Egyptian decoration of the Caffè degli Inglesi: Animals on the cornice, including a bull at the center, from "Diverse Maniere d'adornare i cammini..." (Diverse Ways of ornamenting chimneypieces...)
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 21 7/16 x 15 3/16 in. (54.5 x 38.5 cm) Plate: 9 5/16 x 12 5/8 in. (23.7 x 32 cm) printed horizontally
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, transferred from the Library
Accession Number
41.71.1.20(53)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the imaginative world of Giovanni Battista Piranesi with this 1769 etching from his influential publication *Diverse Maniere d'adare i cammini* ("Diverse Ways of Ornamenting Chimneyp"). Titled *Egyptian Decoration of theè degli Inglesi Animals on the Cornice it depicts a fantastical frieze for the English Coffee House in Rome, centered on a majestic bull flanked by lions and crocodiles. Piranesi's precise lines capture the snarling ferocity and symbolic power of these beasts, evoking ancient Egyptian motifs in a neoclassical revival. As a master etcher and architect, Piranesi blende...
About the Artist
Giovanni Battista Piranesi · 1720–1778
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–1778) was an Italian printmaker, architect, and antiquarian whose visionary etchings of Rome and imaginary prisons revolutionized architectural representation and profoundly influenced both Neoclassicism and Romanticism. Piranesi stands as one of the most important printmakers of the eighteenth century, fundamentally shaping European perceptions of ancient Rome an...