Gianbattista Piranesi
Mozano di Mestre, Venice 1720 – 1778 Rome
Altra Veduta del Tempio della Sibilla in Tivoli
Altra Veduta del Tempio della Sibilla in Tivoli
Another view of the Temple of Sibyl (the broken side of the colonnade)
Hind 62 i/iii
447 x 66 mm
Original etching, c.1761-65. The plate signed.
First state, before the posthumous plate numbers. Probably a lifetime impression, as printed on thick laid paper watermarked with a fleur de lys in a double circle, typical of paper used by Piranesi himself. The usual central fold, though only visible recto in the margins.
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Additional
Information about the Print
The Vedute di Roma
The 135 large double folio sized plates of the Vedute di Roma (Views of Rome), which had immediate and continuing success, were etched by Piranesi from the later 1740’s until the end of his life. The plates produced up to 1760 were first published by Bouchard e Gravier; those post 1760 were published in his lifetime by Piranesi himself, from the Palazzo Tomati.
Piranesi very rarely dated his etchings. Up to 1764/65 he signed the plates Piranesi fecit.
From 1766, after he was knighted by the Pope, Clement XIII, he signed Cavaliere Piranesi.
Tivoli, perched high on the acropolis of the city in the Sabine hills, where the river Aniene drops in cascades, was a popular subject with artists in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Piranesi etched several plates of the town, of which three show the Temple of the Sibyl (now called the Temple of Vesta, though its dedication remains uncertain).
Most artists depicted the temple complex from afar, showing its picturesque position in the landscape. Piranesi etched it close to, from a low view point so it towers over the viewer. The view offered here is the most dramatic and romantic of his three plates.
In Roman times Tivoli inspired poets to thoughts on the brevity of life – hence Horace’s Carpe Diem (Seize the Day).
Prints from The Vedute di Roma in this exhibition are:
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