Piranesi. The Complete Etchings
Published on 23. May 2016
Book
Hardback
840 pages
978-3-8365-5941-6 (ISBN)
Description
The most famous 18th-century copper engraver, Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778) made his name with etchings of ancient Rome. His startling, chiaroscuro images imbued the city's archaeological ruins with drama and romance and became favorite souvenirs for the Grand Tourists who traveled Italy in pursuit of classical culture and education.
Today, Piranesi is renowned not just for shaping the European imagination of Rome, but also for his elaborate series of fanciful prisons, Carceri, which have influenced generations of creatives since, from the Surrealists to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Edgar Allan Poe, Jorge Luis Borges, and Franz Kafka.
Loosely based on contemporary stage sets rather than the actual dingy dungeons of Piranesi's day, these intricate images defy architectural reality to play instead with perspective, lighting, and scale. Staircases exist on two planes simultaneously; vast, vaulted ceilings seem to soar up to the heavens; interior and exterior distinctions collapse. With a low viewpoint and small, fragile figures, the prison scenes become monstrous megacities of incarceration, celebrated to this day as masterworks of existentialist drama.
About the series
Bibliotheca Universalis - Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe!
Today, Piranesi is renowned not just for shaping the European imagination of Rome, but also for his elaborate series of fanciful prisons, Carceri, which have influenced generations of creatives since, from the Surrealists to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Edgar Allan Poe, Jorge Luis Borges, and Franz Kafka.
Loosely based on contemporary stage sets rather than the actual dingy dungeons of Piranesi's day, these intricate images defy architectural reality to play instead with perspective, lighting, and scale. Staircases exist on two planes simultaneously; vast, vaulted ceilings seem to soar up to the heavens; interior and exterior distinctions collapse. With a low viewpoint and small, fragile figures, the prison scenes become monstrous megacities of incarceration, celebrated to this day as masterworks of existentialist drama.
About the series
Bibliotheca Universalis - Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe!
More details
Series
Language
Italian
Place of publication
Cologne
Germany
Dimensions
Height: 195 mm
Width: 140 mm
ISBN-13
978-3-8365-5941-6 (9783836559416)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Luigi Ficacci studied art history in Rome under Giulio Carlo Argan. For many years, he was curator at the Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica in Rome and general museum director (Soprintendente ai Beni Culturali) in Bologna and in Lucca. He also lectured at various Italian universities. Until 2021, he was director of the Central Institute for Restoration (Istituto centrale per il restauro) in Rome. The focal points of his research work are the issues raised by 17th and 18th century and contemporary Italian and European art.