New photography by Shannon Ruff captured with a digital camera-2008.

Vedute di Roma: The Piazza of Saint Peter's

Artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian, 1720-1778)

CultureItalian

Dateca. 1748

MediumEtching

DimensionsOverall, Frame: 26 x 34 in. (66 x 86.4 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mark A. Clark in Honor of Jefferson C. Harrison's 50th Birthday

Object number97.36.1

Not on view

DescriptionThis is an etching of the Piazza of Saint Peter's. This scene depicts a city landscape with several large buildings surrounding St. Peter's. There are two column walkway on either side of St. Peter's extending down the front steps framing in a large courtyard. The columns continue to extend down the front courtyard and then open up into two semi-circular columns expanding the courtyard into an oval. Inside the oval courtyard are three monuments. There are people strolling in the courtyard and horse and carriages at the opening of the oval on the dirt road.

Label TextGiovanni Battista Piranesi Italian (1720-1778) Vedute di Roma: The Piazza of Saint Peter's, ca. 1748 Etching Gift of Mark A. Clark in honor of Jefferson C. Harrison's 50th Birthday 97.36.1 Piranesi devoted much of his extraordinary career to depictions of ancient and modern Rome. His dramatic etchings of the Eternal City-straightforward vedute (views) as well as imaginative capricci (fantasies)-constitute one of the greatest artistic accomplishments of the 18th century. His topographical views of the city's classical remains were unprecedented in their archaeological exactness, exerting a seminal influence on Europe's emerging neoclassical style. His prints created a vision of Rome that endured in the popular mind for generations. The set of etchings known as the Vedute di Roma (Views of Rome) is arguably Piranesi's most ambitious achievement. Created by the artist between 1748 and his death thirty years later, the series of 135 topographical views recorded Rome's most notable monuments and most popular tourist sights. His magisterial bird's-eye prospect of The Piazza of Saint Peter's captures the sweep and grandeur of Rome as the seat of Western Christianity and center of the Catholic faith. Edited By: DS Edited Date: 08/2005 Approved By: MHM Approval Date: 10/13/2005Exhibition History"The Lure of Rome: Antiquity and the Art of the West," The Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va, February 6 - May 1, 1998.