Spaccato interno della Basilica di S. Paolo fuori delle Mura
probably 1748/1749
Medium
etching
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of David Keppel
Accession Number
1943.10.9
Art Historical Context
Giovanni Battista Piranesi, the visionary 18th-century Italian and architect, captures the grandeur of Rome's Basilica di San Paolo fuori leura in this intricate etching, titled *Spaccato interno della Basilica di. Paolo fuori delle M* (Cutaway Interior the Basilica of St. Outside the Walls), likely created around 1748–1749. Known for his dramatic *vedute*—detailed views of Roman architecture—Piranesi here employs a "spaccato" technique, a sectional cutaway view that reveals the basilica's soaring nave, arches, and structural bones as if sliced open, inviting viewers into its sacred depths. T...
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...