Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Title Page.
Rome 1748, this edition ca. 1770
Etching
125 x 260 mm
£220
Wilton Ely 119.
Alcune Vedute di Archi Trionfali ed altri monumenti inalzati da Romani parte de quali se veggono in Roma e parte l’Italia
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.
