Large sculpture gallery built on arches and lit from above... (Galleria grande di Statue, la cui struttura è con Archi e col lume preso dall'alto...), from "Prima Parte di Architettura, e Prospettive"
ca. 1750
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Plate (Image): 14 1/16 × 9 13/16 in. (35.7 × 24.9 cm) Plate (Inscription): 13/16 × 9 3/4 in. (2 × 24.8 cm) Sheet: 19 7/16 × 13 3/16 in. (49.4 × 33.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1937
Accession Number
37.45.3(4)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the imaginative world of Giovanni Battista Piranesi with this captivating etching from his 1750 publication *Prima Parte di Arch, e Prospettive*. Titled *Large sculpture gallery built on and lit from above*Galleria grande di Statue, la cui struttura è con Ar e col lume preso dall'alto*), it showcases Piranesi's visionary take on grand interiors. As a leading 18th-century Venetian artist and architect, Piranesi was renowned for his dramatic *vedute*—detailed views of Rome that often blurred the line between reality and fantasy, influencing the Neoclassical movement. The scene unfolds...
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...