← Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Various Roman Ionic capitals compared with Greek examples from Le Roy [S. Maria in Trastevere, S. Paolo fuori le Mura, S. Clemente, etc.], tab. 20 from 'Della Magnificenza e d'Architettura de'Romani'

Original title: Various Roman Ionic capitals compared with Greek examples from Le Roy [S. Maria in Trastevere, S. Paoplo fuori le Mura, S. Clemente, etc.], tab. 20 from "Della Magnificenza e d'Architettura de'Romani" (On the Grandeur and the Architecture of the Romans by Gio. Battista Piranesi, Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of London)

Artist

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Date

mid-18th century

Medium

Etching

Dimensions

Plate: 15 3/4 x 23 9/16 in. (40 x 59.8 cm) Sheet: 21 1/4 x 31 1/2 in. (54 x 80 cm)

Credit line

Rogers Fund, transferred from the Library

kurzbeschreibung

Giovanni Battista Piranesi made this etching in the mid-18th century as a comparative study of Ionic capitals from Roman and Greek buildings. The sheet belongs to his treatise 'Della Magnificenza e d'Architettura de'Romani' and exists as a single print measuring 40 x 59.8 cm (plate size).

Description

An Ionic column with its capital forms the focal point, surrounded by further capitals in various views. Leaves, blossoms and volutes adorn the capitals as ornamental details. The rendering is monochrome, with sharply defined contours and precise linework. The arrangement reads like a systematic plate that sets different variants side by side.

Context

In 1761 Piranesi issued this work as part of his treatise 'Della Magnificenza e d'Architettura de'Romani', in which he argued for the superiority of Roman over Greek architecture. The plate contrasts Roman capitals from churches such as S. Maria in Trastevere with Greek examples taken from publications by Julien-David Le Roy. As a Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of London, Piranesi used such plates to support his claims about Roman building art.

Impact

The sheet conveys both scholarly precision and artistic elegance. The clear organization of the plate invites close comparison and highlights the ornamental variety of the capitals. Through the monochrome treatment, forms and details come to the fore.

Technique

The work is executed as an etching, an intaglio process in which the drawing is scratched into an acid-resistant ground and then etched. Fine lines and hatching produce the detailed reproduction of the capitals. The sheet is a single print on paper measuring 54 x 80 cm.

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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)