Anfiteatro di Pola in Istria vicino al mare.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Anfiteatro di Pola in Istria vicino al mare.

Rome 1748

Etching

115 x 255 mm

£650

Wilton Ely. 127.

A fine strong early lifetime impression

This series of views first published in 1748 was issued in several editions during Piranesi’s lifetime. Some time after 1761 the title of the work was changed from Antichita Romane de’ Tempi della Republica e de’ primi Imperatori to the Alcune Vedut… by which the work is generally known, hence avoiding confusion with the 4 volume Antichita Romane of 1756 These exquisite plates made from sketches of Piranesi’s travels in Italy in the mid 1740’s, are subdivided into two sections, ; Ruins outside Rome and Ruins within Rome. Considered among Piranesi’s graphic masterpieces, they possess a unity and range of experiment which was lacking in his earlier Varie Vedute The Archi Trionfali show strong eveidence of Tiepolo’s influence on Piranesi during his return to Venice in the mid 1740’s. Also evident are early signs of his compositional ideas which were to be introduced in his larger Vedute in the next decade.