Pile cinerarie di marmo, esistenti nella Villa Corsini fuori di P.ta S. Pancrazio

About this artwork

verzamelaarsmerk, verso, gestempeld: Lugt 2228

Art Historical Context

Giovanni Battista Piranesi's etching *Pile cinerarie di marmo, esistenti nella Villaini fuori di P.ta. Pancrazio* (c. 1756–1757) captures a pair of ancient marble cinerary urns housed in the Villa Corsini, just outside Rome's Porta S. Pancrazio gate. Measuring 398 × 480 mm, this exemplifies Piranesi's lifelong passion for Roman antiquities, documenting artifacts that fueled the 18th-century neoclassical revival. As a master of the veduta tradition—topographical views infused with dramatic grandeur—Piranesi meticulously rendered the urns' intricate carvings, evoking the solemnity of ancient Rom...

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...