Title page, from "Trofeo o sia Magnifica Colonna Coclide..." (The Trophy or Magnificent Spiral Column)
1774–79
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Plate: 17 1/2 x 27 7/16 in. (44.5 x 69.7 cm) Sheet: 21 1/4 x 29 5/16 in. (54 x 74.5 cm) printed horizontally
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, transferred from the Library
Accession Number
41.71.1.14(1)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the dramatic world of Giovanni Battista Pir with this striking title page etching from his series *Trofeo o siaifica Colonna Cocl* ("The Trophy or Magnificent Column"), created between 1774 and 1779. Piranesi, a masterful Venetian-born artist and architect, was renowned for his intricate vedute—topographical views of ancient Rome that blended precise documentation with imaginative grandeur. This horizontally oriented plate, measuring an impressive 17½ x 27⅜ inches, captures the spiraling majesty of Trajan's Column, a monumental Roman trophy adorned with reliefs of military victories....
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...