PIRANESI, Giovanni Battista.
XVIII. Veduta dell’Avanzo del Mausoleo di S. Elena , madre di Constantino Imp. sulla Via Labicana fuori di Porta Maggiore circa un miglio e mezzo.
First Paris Edition, published by F. Piranesi, Paris 1800 -1807
Etching
400 x 600 mm
£850
The Antichita illustrate the tombs along the Appian Way and similar areas outside the city. While the tombs, their occupants and their builders are mostly unknown, these plates are among Piranesi’s most romantic views, his crumbling masonry given weight and grandeur by the low viewpoints, the strong light affects and the tiny figures of tourists, peasants and goats. Piranesi’s studies of the antiquities of Rome was one of the great archaeological works of its era; appealing both to the architects and designers of the day as well as to the students of the past. While its influence spread across Europe, it was most eagerly studied in England, where it led in 1757 to Piranesi’s election as an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries
