Egyptian Obelisk. This was erected by Pope Sixtus V in the Piazza of St. John Lateran, from Views of Rome
Giovanni Battista Piranesi
1750/59
Medium
Etching on heavy ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 52.9 × 40 cm (20 7/8 × 15 3/4 in.); Plate: 54.3 × 40.5 cm (21 7/16 × 16 in.); Sheet: 79.7 × 55.5 cm (31 7/16 × 21 7/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
40810
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...