The Drawbridge, plate 7 from Imaginary Prisons
c. 1750
Medium
Etching and engraving on heavy ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 54.4 × 40.3 cm (21 7/16 × 15 7/8 in.); Plate: 55.5 × 41.1 cm (21 7/8 × 16 3/16 in.); Sheet: 78.2 × 56 cm (30 13/16 × 22 1/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
43905
Art Historical Context
Giovanni Battista Piranesi, an 18th-century Italian artist, architect, and visionary printmaker, captivates us with *The Drawbridge*, plate7 from his renowned seriesImaginary Prisons* (*Carceri d'Invenzione*), created around 1750. These monumental etchings transport viewers into vast, labyrinthine underground dungeons filled with impossible architecture—towering arches, rickety staircases, and colossal machinery that defy gravity and reason. Amid the dramatic gloom, a massive drawbridge stretches into the abyss, symbolizing entrapment and the sublime power of the imagination. Piranesi's maste...
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...