Paper prisons by Giovanni Piranesi. Chronicles of mental journeys by Giovanni Battista Piranesi watch in high quality

Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian: Giovanni Battista Piranesi, or Italian: Giambattista Piranesi; October 4, 1720, Mogliano Veneto (near the city of Treviso) - November 9, 1778, Rome) - Italian archaeologist, architect and graphic artist, master of architectural landscapes. He had a strong influence on subsequent generations of artists of the romantic style and - later - on the surrealists. He made a large number of drawings and drawings, but erected few buildings, which is why the concept of “paper architecture” is associated with his name.

Born into a family of stonemasons. Learned the basics of Latin and classical literature from his older brother Angelo. He learned the basics of architecture while working in the Venice magistrate under the guidance of his uncle. As an artist, he was significantly influenced by the art of vedutists, very popular in mid-18th century century in Venice.

In 1740 he went to Rome as a graphic designer as part of the embassy delegation of Marco Foscarini. In Rome, he enthusiastically studied ancient architecture. Along the way, he learned the art of metal engraving in the workshop of Giuseppe Vasi. From 1743 to 1747 he lived mostly in Venice, where, among other things, he worked with Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.

In 1743 he published in Rome his first series of engravings entitled “The first part of architectural sketches and perspectives, invented and engraved by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Venetian architect.” In it you can see the main signs of his style - the desire and ability to depict monumental and difficult-to-comprehend architectural compositions and spaces. Some sheets of this small series are similar to engravings from Piranesi's most famous series, Fantastic Images of Prisons.

For the next 25 years, until his death, he lived in Rome; created huge amount engravings-etchings, depicting mainly architectural and archaeological finds associated with ancient Rome, and views of famous places of the Rome that surrounded the artist. Piranesi's performance, like his skill, is incomprehensible. He conceives and carries out a multi-volume publication of etchings under common name"Roman Antiquities" containing images architectural monuments ancient Rome, capitals of columns of ancient buildings, sculptural fragments, sarcophagi, stone vases, candelabra, road paving slabs, gravestone inscriptions, plans of buildings and urban ensembles.

Throughout his life he worked on a series of engravings “Views of Rome” (Vedute di Roma). These are very large sheets (on average about 40 cm in height and 60-70 cm in width), which preserved for us the appearance of Rome in the 18th century. Admiration ancient civilization Rome and the understanding of the inevitability of its death, when in place of majestic buildings modern people busy with their humble daily affairs - this is the main motive of these engravings.

A special place in Piranesi’s work is occupied by the series of engravings “Fantastic Images of Prisons”, better known as simply “Prison”. These architectural fantasies were first published in 1749. Ten years later, Piranesi returned to this work and created practically new works on the same copper boards. “Prisons” are gloomy and frightening architectural structures with their size and lack of understandable logic, where the spaces are mysterious, just as the purpose of these stairs, bridges, passages, blocks and chains is unclear. The power of stone structures is overwhelming. Creating the second version of “Prison”, the artist dramatized the original compositions: he deepened the shadows, added many details and human figures- either jailers or prisoners tied to torture devices.

Over the past decades, Piranesi's fame and glory has been growing every year. More and more books are being published about him and best museums exhibitions of his works are organized around the world. Piranesi is probably the most famous artist, who acquired such fame only through graphics, in contrast to other great engravers who were, in addition, great painters (Dürer, Rembrandt, Goya).

Interest in the ancient world manifested itself in archaeological studies. A year before his death, Piranesi explored the ancient Greek temples at Paestum, then almost unknown, and created a beautiful series of large engravings dedicated to this ensemble.

In the field of practical architecture, Piranesi’s activity was very modest, although he himself never forgot to add the words “Venetian architect” after his name on the title pages of his engraving suites. But in the 18th century, the era of monumental construction in Rome had already ended.

In 1763, Pope Clement XIII commissioned Piranesi to build a choir in the Church of San Giovanni in Laterano. Main job Piranesi in the field of real, “stone” architecture was the reconstruction of the church of Santa Maria Aventina (1764-1765).

Died after a long illness; buried in the church of Santa Maria del Priorato.

After the artist's death, his family moved to Paris, where their engraving shop sold, among other things, works by Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Engraved copper plaques were also transported to Paris. Subsequently, having changed several owners, they were acquired by the Pope and are currently located in Rome, in the state Calcography.

Sources - Wikipedia and

Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian: Giovanni Battista Piranesi, or Giambattista Piranesi; 1720-1778) - Italian archaeologist, architect and graphic artist, engraver, draftsman, master of architectural landscapes. He had a strong influence on subsequent generations of artists of the romantic style and - later - on surrealists.

Gianbattista Piranesi was born on October 4, 1720 in Mogliano Veneto (near the city of Treviso), in the family of a stonemason. Real name The Piranese family (from the name of the town “Pirano d’Istria”, from where the stone for buildings was supplied) acquired the sound “Piranesi” in Rome.

His father was a stone carver, and in his youth Piranesi worked in his father's workshop "L'Orbo Celega" on the Grand Canal, which carried out orders from the architect D. Rossi. He studied architecture from his uncle, the architect and engineer Matteo Lucchesi, as well as from the architect G. A. Scalfarotto. Studied the techniques of perspective painters, took lessons in engraving and perspective painting from Carlo Zucchi, a famous engraver, author of a treatise on optics and perspective (brother of the painter Antonio Zucchi); He independently studied treatises on architecture, read the works of ancient authors (his mother’s brother, the abbot, got him into reading). The young Piranesi’s interests also included history and archeology.
As an artist, he was significantly influenced by the art of the vedatistas, which was very popular in the mid-18th century in Venice.

In 1740 he left Veneto forever and from that time lived and worked in Rome. Piranesi came to the Eternal City as an engraver and graphic designer as part of the embassy delegation of Venice. He was supported by Ambassador Marco Foscarini himself, Senator Abbondio Rezzonico, nephew of the “Venetian Pope” Clement XIII Rezzonico - Prior of the Order of Malta, as well as the “Venetian Pope” himself ; Lord Carlemont became the most ardent admirer of Piranesi’s talent and a collector of his works. Piranesi independently improved in drawing and engraving, worked in the Palazzo di Venezia, the residence of the Venetian ambassador in Rome; studied the engravings of J. Vazi. In the workshop of Giuseppe Vasi, the young Piranesi studied the art of metal engraving. From 1743 to 1747 he lived mostly in Venice, where, among other things, he worked with Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.

Piranesi was a highly educated man, but unlike Palladio, he did not write treatises on architecture. A certain role in the formation of Piranesi’s style was played by Jean Laurent Le Gue (1710-1786), a famous French draftsman and architect who worked in Rome from 1742, close to the circle of students of the French Academy in Rome, with whom Piranesi himself was friendly.

In Rome, Piranesi became a passionate collector: his workshop in Palazzo Tomati on Strada Felice, full of antique marbles, was described by many travelers. He was fond of archeology, participated in the measurements of ancient monuments, sketched found works of sculpture and decorative art. He loved to make their reconstruction, like the famous Warwick Crater he compiled (now in the collection of the Burrell Museum, near Glasgow), which he acquired in the form of separate fragments from the Scottish painter G. Hamilton, who was also fond of excavations.

The first known works - a series of engravings "Prima Parte di architettura e Prospettive" (1743) and "Varie Vedute di Roma" (1741) - bore the imprint of the style of engravings by J. Vazi with strong effects of light and shadow, highlighting the dominant architectural monument and at the same time techniques of the master set designers of Veneto, who used “angular perspective”. In the spirit of the Venetian capricci, Piranesi combined in engravings real-life monuments and his imaginary reconstructions (frontispiece from the Vedute di Roma series - Fantasy of ruins with a statue of Minerva in the center; title of the publication of the Carceri series; View of the Pantheon Agrippa, Interior of the Villa Maecenas, Ruins of the sculpture gallery at Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli - series "Vedute di Roma").

In 1743, Piranesi published his first series of engravings in Rome. The collection of large engravings by Piranesi “Grotesques” (1745) and the series of sixteen sheets “Fantasies on Prison Themes” (1745; 1761) enjoyed great success. The word “fantasy” is not accidental here: in these works Piranesi paid tribute to the so-called paper, or imaginary ,architecture. In his engravings, he imagined and showed fantastic architectural structures that were impossible for real implementation.

In 1744, due to a difficult financial situation, he was forced to return to Venice. He improved in engraving techniques, studying the works of G.B. Tiepolo, Canaletto, M. Ricci, the style of which influenced his subsequent publications in Rome - “Vedute di Roma” (1746 -1748),,"Grotteschi" (1747-1749),,"Carceri" (1749-1750). The famous engraver J. Wagner invited Piranesi to be his agent in Rome, and he again went to the Eternal City.

In 1756, after a long study of the monuments of Ancient Rome and participation in excavations, he published the fundamental work "Le Antichita romane" (in 4 volumes) under financial support Lord Carlemont. It emphasized the greatness and significance of the role of Roman architecture for ancient and subsequent European culture.The same theme - the pathos of Roman architecture - was devoted to a series of engravings "Della magnificenza ed architettura dei romani" (1761) with a dedication to Pope Clement XIII Rezzonico. Piranesi also emphasized the contribution of the Etruscans to the creation of ancient Roman architecture, their engineering talent, sense of structure of monuments , functionality. This position of Piranesi irritated supporters of the greatest contribution of the Greeks to ancient culture, based on the works of French authors Le Roy, Cordemoy, Abbe Laugier, Comte de Queylus. The main exponent of the pan-Greek theory was the famous French collector P. J. Mariette, who spoke in the Gazette Litterere del’Europe with objections to the views of Piranesi. literary work"Parere su l'architettura" (1765) Piranesi answered him, explaining his position. The heroes of the artist's work, Protopiro and Didascallo, argue like Marietta and Piranesi. In the mouth of Didascallo, Piranesi put an important idea that in architecture one should not reduce everything to dry functionality. “Everything must be according to reason and truth, but this threatens to reduce everything to huts,” wrote Piranesi. The hut was an example of functionality in the works of Carlo Lodoli, the enlightened Venetian abbot, whose works Piranesi studied. The dialogue of Piranesi’s characters reflected the state of architectural theory in 2nd floor XVIII century Preference should be given to variety and imagination, Piranesi believed. This essential principles architecture, which is based on the proportionality of the whole and its parts, and its task is to meet the modern needs of people.

In 1757 the architect became a member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries in London. In 1761, for his work “Magnificenza ed architettura dei romani”, Piranesi was accepted as a member of the Academy of St. Luke; in 1767 he received the title "cavagliere" from Pope Clement XIII Rezzonico.

Piranesi expressed the idea that without diversity architecture would be reduced to craft in his subsequent works - the decor of the English Cafe (1760s) in Piazza di Spagna in Rome, where he introduced elements of Egyptian art, and in the series of engravings "Diverse maniere d'adornare I cammini" (1768, also known as Vasi, candelabri, cippi...). The latter was carried out with the financial support of Senator A. Rezzonico. In the preface to this series, Piranesi wrote that the Egyptians, Greeks, Etruscans, Romans all made significant contributions to world culture, enriched architecture with their discoveries. Projects for decorating fireplaces, lamps, furniture, clocks became the arsenal from which Empire architects borrowed decorative elements for interior decoration.

In 1763, Pope Clement III commissioned Piranesi to build the choir in the church of San Giovanni in Laterano. Piranesi's main work in the field of real, “stone” architecture was the reconstruction of the church of Santa Maria Aventina (1764-1765).

In the 1770s, Piranesi also carried out measurements of the temples of Paestum and made corresponding sketches and engravings, which after the artist's death were published by his son Francesco.

G.B. Piranesi had his own vision of the role of an architectural monument. As a master of the Age of Enlightenment, he thought of it in a historical context, dynamically, in the spirit of the Venetian capriccio, he loved to combine various time layers of the life of the architecture of the Eternal City. The idea that new style is born from architectural styles the past, the importance of diversity and imagination in architecture, that the architectural heritage receives a new appreciation over time, Piranesi expressed by building the church of Santa Maria del Priorato (1764-1766) in Rome on the Aventine Hill. It was erected by order of the prior of the Order of Malta Senator A. Rezzonico and became one of the major monuments of Rome during the time of neoclassicism. The picturesque architecture of Palladio, the baroque scenography of Borromini, the lessons of the Venetian perspectivists - everything came together in this talented creation of Piranesi, which became a kind of “encyclopedia” of elements of ancient decor. The facade facing the square, consisting of an arsenal of antique details, reproduced as in engravings, in a strict frame; The decoration of the altar, also oversaturated with them, looks like collages made up of “quotations” taken from ancient decor (bucranias, torches, trophies, mascarons, etc.). Artistic heritage the past appeared so clearly for the first time in historical assessment the architect of the Age of Enlightenment, teaching it to his contemporaries freely and clearly and with a touch of didactics.

Drawings by G.B. Piranesi are not as numerous as his engravings. The largest collection of them is located in the J. Soane Museum in London. Piranesi worked in various techniques - sanguine, Italian pencil, combined drawings with Italian pencil and pen, ink, adding washes with a bistre brush. He sketched ancient monuments, details of their decor, combined them in the spirit of the Venetian capriccio, depicted scenes from modern life. His drawings showed the influence of Venetian masters-perspectivists, the style of G.B. Tiepolo. In the drawings of the Venetian period, pictorial effects dominate; in Rome, it became more important for him to convey the clear structure of the monument, the harmony of its forms. The drawings of Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli were executed with great inspiration, which he called “a place for the soul,” sketches of Pompeii made in the later years of his work. Modern reality and the life of ancient monuments are combined in the sheets into a single poetic story about the eternal the movement of history, about connections between past and present.

The words of G.B. Piranesi: “the Parere su l’ Architettura” (“They despise my novelty, I am their timidity”) could become the motto of the work of this outstanding master of the Age of Enlightenment in Italy. His art had a significant influence on many architects (F. Gilly, R. and J. Adam, J. A. Selva, C. Percier and P. Fontaine, C. Clerisseau, etc.). Decorative elements from his work “Diverse maniere” "... reproduced in their publications by T. Hope (1807), Percier and Fontaine (1812) and many others. He had no students in engraving except his son Francesco (1758-1810), who published the series "Raccolta de Tempi antichi" (1786 or 1788 ) and the father’s last work, “Differentes vues de la quelques restes”... with views of the temples of Paestum, which Francesco visited with him in 1777 and 1778. His daughter Laura also helped his father in his work, making drawings.

The artist died on November 9, 1778 in Rome after a long illness. He was buried in the church of Santa Maria del Priorato.

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Giovanni Battista Piranesi

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Biography and creativity.

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Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian Giovanni Battista Piranesi, or Giambattista Piranesi; 1720-1778) - Italian archaeologist, architect and graphic artist, engraver, draftsman, master of architectural landscapes. He had a strong influence on subsequent generations of artists of the romantic style and - later - on the surrealists.

Gianbattista Piranesi born October 4, 1720 in Mogliano Veneto(near the city Treviso), in the family of a stonecutter. Real family name Piranese(from the name of the place Pirano d'Istria, where stone for buildings was supplied from) acquired the sound " Piranesi".

His father was a stone carver, and in his youth Piranesi worked in my father's workshop L'Orbo Celega on the Grand Canal, which carried out orders from the architect D. Rossi. Studied architecture from his uncle, an architect and engineer Matteo Lucchesi, as well as from the architect J. A. Scalfarotto. He studied the techniques of perspectival painters, took lessons in engraving and perspective painting from Carlo Zucchi, famous engraver, author of a treatise on optics and perspective (brother of the painter Antonio Zucchi); He independently studied treatises on architecture, read the works of ancient authors (his mother’s brother, the abbot, got him into reading). In the circle of interests of the young Piranesi also included history and archaeology.

As an artist, he was significantly influenced by art Vedutistov, very popular in the mid-18th century in Venice.

In 1740 he left forever Veneto and from that time on he lived and worked in Rome. Piranesi came to the Eternal City as an engraver and graphic designer as part of the embassy delegation of Venice. He was supported by the ambassador himself Marco Foscarini, senator Abbondio Rezzonico, nephew of the "Venetian Pope" Clement XIII Rezzonico- Prior of the Order of Malta, as well as the “Venetian Pope” himself; the most ardent admirer of talent Piranesi, became a collector of his works Lord Carlemont. Piranesi independently improved himself in drawing and engraving, worked in Palazzo di Venezia, residence of the Venetian ambassador in Rome; studied engravings J. Vazi. In the workshop Giuseppe Vasi young Piranesi studied the art of metal engraving. From 1743 to 1747 he lived mostly in Venice, where, among other things, he worked with Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.

Piranesi was a highly educated person, but unlike Palladio did not write treatises on architecture. A certain role in the formation of style Piranesi played Jean Laurent Le Gue(1710-1786), famous French draftsman and architect, who worked in Rome from 1742, close to the circle of students French Academy in Rome, with whom he himself was friendly Piranesi.

In Rome Piranesi became a passionate collector: his workshop in Palazzo Tomati on Strada Felice, full of antique marbles, was described by many travelers. He was interested in archaeology, participated in the measurements of ancient monuments, and sketched found works of sculpture and decorative art. He loved to make their reconstruction, like the famous one he compiled Warwick Crater(now in the collection of the Burrell Museum, near Glasgow), which was acquired in the form of separate fragments from a Scottish painter G. Hamilton, who was also interested in excavations.

First known works - a series of engravings Prima Parte di architettura e Prospettive(1743) and Varie Vedute di Roma(1741) - bore the imprint of the manner of engravings J. Vazi with strong effects of light and shadow, highlighting the dominant architectural monument and at the same time the techniques of master set designers Veneto, who used "angular perspective". In the spirit of Venetian capricci Piranesi combined in engravings real-life monuments and his imaginary reconstructions (frontispiece from the series Vedute di Roma- Fantasy ruins with a statue of Minerva in the center; series title Carceri; View of Agrippa's Pantheon, Interior of Villa Maecenas, Ruins of the sculpture gallery at Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli- series Vedute di Roma).

In 1743 Piranesi published his first series of engravings in Rome. The collection of large engravings enjoyed great success Piranesi « Grotesques" (1745) and a series of sixteen sheets " Fantasies on prison themes"(1745; 1761). The word “fantasy” is not accidental here: in these works Piranesi paid tribute to the so-called paper, or imaginary, architecture. In his engravings, he imagined and showed fantastic architectural structures that were impossible to realize in reality.

In 1744, due to a difficult financial situation, he was forced to return to Venice. He improved his engraving technique by studying the works of J.B. Tiepolo, Canaletto, M. Ricci, the manner of which influenced his subsequent editions in Rome - Vedute di Roma (1746-1748), Grotteschi (1747-1749), Carceri(1749-1750). Famous engraver J. Wagner suggested Piranesi to be his agent in Rome, and he again went to the Eternal City.

In 1756, after a long study of the monuments Ancient Rome, participation in excavations, published a fundamental work Le Antichita Romane(in 4 volumes) with financial support Lord Carlemont. It emphasized the greatness and significance of the role of Roman architecture for ancient and subsequent European culture. A series of engravings was devoted to the same topic - the pathos of Roman architecture. Della magnificenza ed architettura dei romani(1761) with dedication to the Pope Clement XIII Rezzonico. Piranesi It also emphasized the contribution of the Etruscans to the creation of ancient Roman architecture, their engineering talent, sense of the structure of monuments, and functionality. Similar position Piranesi caused irritation among supporters of the greatest contribution of the Greeks to ancient culture, who relied on the works of French authors Le Roy, Cordemoy, Abbot Laugier, Comte de Queylus. The main exponent of the pan-Greek theory was the famous French collector P. J. Mariette, who spoke at Gazette Litterere del'Europe with objections to views Piranesi. In literary work Parere su l'architettura (1765) Piranesi answered him, explaining his position. Heroes of the artist's work Protopiro and Didaskallo argue like Marietta and Piranesi. To the mouth Didaskallo Piranesi put in an important idea that in architecture everything should not be reduced to dry functionality. "Everything should be according to reason and truth, but this threatens to reduce everything to huts" , - wrote Piranesi. The hut was an example of functionality in the works Carlo Lodoli, an enlightened Venetian abbot whose works he studied Piranesi. Dialogue of heroes Piranesi reflected the state of architectural theory in the 2nd half. XVIII century Preference should be given to variety and imagination, he believed Piranesi. These are the most important principles of architecture, which is based on the proportionality of the whole and its parts, and its task is to meet the modern needs of people.

In 1757 the architect became a member Royal Society of Antiquaries of London. In 1761 for labor Magnificenza ed architettura dei romani Piranesi was admitted as a member St. Luke's Academy; received from dad in 1767 Clement XIII Rezzonico title" cavagliere".

The idea that without diversity architecture will be reduced to a craft Piranesi expressed in his subsequent works - decor English cafe(1760s) in the Piazza di Spagna in Rome, where he introduced elements of Egyptian art, and in a series of engravings Diverse maniere d'adornare I cammini(1768, also known as Vasi, candelabri, cippi...). The latter was carried out with the financial support of Senator A. Rezzonico. In the preface to this series Piranesi wrote that the Egyptians, Greeks, Etruscans, Romans - all made a significant contribution to world culture and enriched architecture with their discoveries. Designs for the decoration of fireplaces, lamps, furniture, clocks became the arsenal from which Empire architects borrowed decorative elements for interior decoration.

In 1763 dad Clementius III instructed Piranesi building a choir in a church San Giovanni in Laterano. Main job Piranesi in the field of real, “stone” architecture was the reconstruction of the church Santa Maria Aventina (1764-1765).

In the 1770s Piranesi also carried out measurements of temples Paestum and made corresponding sketches and engravings, which after the artist's death were published by his son Francesco.

U J.B. Piranesi had its own vision of the role of an architectural monument. Like a master of the century Enlightenment he thought of it in a historical context, dynamically, in the spirit of the Venetian capriccio loved to combine different time layers of the life of architecture Eternal City. The idea that a new style is born from the architectural styles of the past, the importance of diversity and imagination in architecture, that the architectural heritage receives a new appreciation over time, Piranesi expressed by building a church Santa Maria del Priorato(1764-1766) in Rome on Aventine Hill. It was erected by order of the Prior of the Order of Malta, Senator A. Rezzonico and became one of the major monuments of Rome during neoclassicism. Picturesque architecture Palladio, baroque scenography Borromini, the lessons of Venetian perspectivists - everything came together in this talented creation Piranesi, which became a kind of “encyclopedia” of elements of antique decor. A facade overlooking the square, consisting of an arsenal of antique details, reproduced, as in engravings, in a strict frame; the decoration of the altar, also oversaturated with them, looks like collages made up of “quotations” taken from ancient decor (bucranias, torches, trophies, mascarons, etc.). For the first time, the artistic heritage of the past appeared so clearly in the historical assessment of the architect’s age Enlightenment, teaching it to his contemporaries freely and clearly and with a touch of didactics.

Drawings J.B. Piranesi not as numerous as his engravings. The museum has the largest collection of them. J. Soana in London. Piranesi he worked in various techniques - sanguine, Italian pencil, combined drawings with Italian pencil and pen, ink, adding washes with a bistro brush. He sketched ancient monuments, details of their decor, united them in the spirit of the Venetian capriccio, and depicted scenes from modern life. His drawings showed the influence of Venetian masters-perspectivists, the style J.B. Tiepolo. In the drawings of the Venetian period, pictorial effects dominate; in Rome, it became more important for him to convey the clear structure of the monument and the harmony of its forms. The drawings of the villa were executed with great inspiration Adriana V Tivoli which he called " a place for the soul", sketches Pompeii, made in the later years of creativity. Modern reality and the life of ancient monuments are combined in the sheets into a single poetic story about perpetual motion history, about the connection between past and present.

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Gianbattista Piranesi was born on October 4, 1720 in Mogliano Veneto (near the city of Treviso), in the family of a stonemason. The real surname of the family Piranese (from the name of the town "Pirano d'Istria", from where the stone for buildings was supplied) acquired the sound "Piranesi" in Rome .

In 1756, after a long study of the monuments of Ancient Rome and participation in excavations, he published the fundamental work “Le Antichita romane” (in 4 volumes) with the financial support of Lord Carlemont. It emphasized the greatness and significance of the role of Roman architecture for ancient and subsequent European culture. This The same theme - the pathos of Roman architecture - was devoted to a series of engravings "Della magnificenza ed architettura dei romani" (1761) with a dedication to Pope Clement XIII Rezzonico. Piranesi also emphasized the contribution of the Etruscans to the creation of ancient Roman architecture, their engineering talent, sense of structure of monuments, functionality This position of Piranesi irritated supporters of the greatest contribution of the Greeks to ancient culture, who relied on the works of French authors Le Roy, Cordemoy, Abbe Laugier, and Comte de Queylus. The main exponent of the pan-Greek theory was the famous French collector P. J. Mariette, who spoke in the Gazette Litterere del'Europe with objections to the views of Piranesi. In the literary work "Parere su l'architettura" (1765), Piranesi answered him, explaining his position. The heroes of the artist’s work, Protopiro and Didascallo, are arguing like Marietta and Piranesi. In Didascallo’s mouth, Piranesi put an important idea that in architecture everything should not be reduced to dry functionality. “Everything should be according to reason and truth, but this threatens to reduce everything to huts ", wrote Piranesi. The hut was an example of functionality in the works of Carlo Lodoli, the enlightened Venetian abbot, whose works Piranesi studied. The dialogue of Piranesi's characters reflected the state of architectural theory in the 2nd half. XVIII century Preference should be given to variety and imagination, Piranesi believed. These are the most important principles of architecture, in which is based on the proportionality of the whole and its parts, and its task is to meet the modern needs of people.

Piranesi expressed the idea that without diversity architecture would be reduced to craft in his subsequent works - the decor of the English Cafe (1760s) in Piazza di Spagna in Rome, where he introduced elements of Egyptian art, and in the series of engravings "Diverse maniere d'adornare I cammini" (1768, also known as Vasi, candelabri, cippi...). The latter was carried out with the financial support of Senator A. Rezzonico. In the preface to this series, Piranesi wrote that the Egyptians, Greeks, Etruscans, Romans - all made a significant contribution to world culture, enriched architecture with their discoveries. Projects for decorating fireplaces, lamps, furniture , watches became the arsenal from which Empire architects borrowed decorative elements for interior decoration.

In the 1770s, Piranesi also carried out measurements of the temples of Paestum and made corresponding sketches and engravings, which after the artist's death were published by his son Francesco.

G.B. Piranesi had his own vision of the role of an architectural monument. As a master of the Age of Enlightenment, he thought of it in a historical context, dynamically, in the spirit of the Venetian capriccio, he loved to combine various time layers of the life of the architecture of the Eternal City. The idea that a new style is born from architectural styles of the past, the importance of diversity and imagination in architecture, that the architectural heritage receives a new appreciation over time, Piranesi expressed by building the church of Santa Maria del Priorato (1764-1766) in Rome on the Aventine Hill. It was erected by order of the Prior of Malta Order of Senator A. Rezzonico and became one of the major monuments of Rome during the time of neoclassicism. The picturesque architecture of Palladio, the baroque scenography of Borromini, the lessons of Venetian perspectivists - everything came together in this talented creation of Piranesi, which became a kind of “encyclopedia” of elements of ancient decor. The facade facing the square, consisting from an arsenal of antique details, reproduced as in engravings, in a strict frame; the decoration of the altar, also oversaturated with them, looks like collages made up of “quotations” taken from ancient decor (bucranias, torches, trophies, mascarons, etc.). The artistic heritage of the past for the first time appeared so clearly in the historical assessment of the architect of the Age of Enlightenment, freely and clearly and with a touch of didactics teaching it to his contemporaries.

Drawings by G.B. Piranesi are not as numerous as his engravings. The largest collection of them is located in the J. Soane Museum in London. Piranesi worked in various techniques - sanguine, Italian pencil, combined drawings with Italian pencil and pen, ink, adding washes with a bistre brush. He sketched ancient monuments, details of their decor, united them in the spirit of the Venetian capriccio, and depicted scenes from modern life. His drawings showed the influence of Venetian masters-perspectivists, the style of G.B. Tiepolo. In the drawings of the Venetian period, pictorial effects dominate; in Rome, it became more important for him to convey the clear structure of the monument, the harmony of its forms. The drawings of Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli were executed with great inspiration, which he called “a place for the soul,” sketches of Pompeii made in the later years of his work. Modern reality and the life of ancient monuments are combined in sheets into a single poetic story about perpetual motion stories about connection past and present.

The artist died on November 9, 1778 in Rome after a long illness. He was buried in the church of Santa Maria del Priorato.

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From September 20 to November 13, the Pushkin Museum hosted the exhibition “Piranesi. Before and after. Italy - Russia. XVIII-XXI centuries."
The exhibition includes more than 100 etchings of the master, engravings and drawings of his predecessors and followers, casts, coins and medals, books, as well as cork models from the collection of the Scientific Research Museum at Russian Academy arts, graphic sheets from the Cini Foundation (Venice), Scientific Research Museum of Architecture named after A.V. Shchusev, Museum of the History of the Moscow Architectural School at the Moscow Architectural Institute, Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, International Architectural charitable foundation named after Yakov Chernikhov. For the first time, the Russian viewer will be offered engraving boards by Piranesi, provided by the Central Institute of Graphics (Roman Calcography). In total, about 400 works were exhibited at the exhibition. The exhibition covers much more wide circle problems and goes far beyond the boundaries of the artist’s own creativity. "Before" are Piranesi's predecessors, as well as his immediate teachers; “After” - artists and architects of the late 18th-19th centuries, up to the 21st century.
White Hall

The White Hall is dedicated to Antiquity. Piranesi spent his entire life exploring ancient Rome, giving the world a number of major archaeological discoveries. For the first time, Russian visitors will be able to see sheets from the master’s most important theoretical works, primarily the four-volume work “Roman Antiquities” (1756) and others. Piranesi described the surviving monuments of ancient Rome, reconstructed the topography of the ancient city, and captured the disappearing remains of ancient monuments.

Piranesi was not only a tireless engraver-researcher, but also an enterprising man who successfully used his talent and knowledge for commercial purposes. From the second half of the 1760s, he took part in excavations and began to recreate monuments of ancient art, selling them along with engravings.

Pope Clement XIII and other members of the Rezzonico family patronized Piranesi, encouraging his creative ideas. Apart from the grandiose, not completed project 1760 for the reconstruction of the altar and the western part of the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, in 1764-1766 Piranesi reconstructed the Church of the Order of Malta Santa Maria del Piorato on the Avetina Hill in Rome, and also designed a number of interiors in the residence of the pope in Castel Gandolfo and his successors - Cardinal Giovanni Battista Rezzonico and the senator of Rome Abbondio Rezzonico.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi Portrait of Pope Clement XIII. Frontispiece for the series “On the greatness and architecture of the Romans...” 1761 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

Giovanni Battista Piranesi "Ursns, tombstones and vases at the Villa Corsini." . Sheet from the series “Roman Antiquities” 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

The engraving depicts funerary urns, steles, and tombstones found in the gardens of Villa Corsini behind Porta San Pancrazio in Rome (Trastevere district). It is believed that Piranesi used the motif of alternating funerary urns and steles when designing the fence of the Church of the Order of Malta, Santa Maria del Piorato. This church is the only building built by Piranesi.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi Interior view of the tomb of Lucius Arruntius. Sheet from the series “Roman Antiquities” 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

The tomb of Lucius Arruntius is a complex of three columbariums, rooms with semicircular niches for storing urns with the ashes of slaves and descendants of the statesman, consul of the 6th year, historian Lucius Arruntius. The burial was discovered in 1736, and in the 19th century the tomb was completely destroyed.

Tombstone of Lucius Volumnius Hercules Tinted gypsum, mold casting Original: marble, 1st century, stored in the Lateran Museum, Rome Pushkin Museum. A.S. Pushkin

Altar-shaped tombstones were very popular in funeral rites Italy in the early imperial period. The original is made from a single block of marble with relief decorations on the pediment and sides. The upper part of the tombstone is designed in the form of a pillow with two cushions, the curls of which are decorated with rosettes. In the central part of the semicircular pediment there is a wreath with garlands.

On the front edge of the tombstone there is an inscription carved in a frame with a dedication to the gods the afterlife- mannam - and mentioning the name of the deceased and his age; underneath is a mask of the gorgon Medusa, framed by figures of swans. At the corners of the monument there are ram masks, under which there are images of eagles. The side parts of the tombstone are decorated with garlands of leaves and fruits hanging from ram's horns.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi "View of the Ancient Via Appevo". Sheet from the series “Roman Antiquities” 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

One of the main themes in Piranesi's art is the theme of the greatness of ancient Roman architecture. Much of this greatness was achieved through engineering skills. The engraving shows a preserved paved section of the ancient Via Apia, the Queen of Roads, as the Romans called it.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi Front page to volume II “Roman Antiquities” 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

In his work “Roman Antiquities,” Piranesi showed an increased interest in funerary structures. In the study of tombs containing numerous works of art, the artist saw the path to the revival of the greatness of Rome and its culture. Before Piranesi, Pietro Santi Bartoli, Pier Leon Ghezzi and others turned to the study and documentation of ancient Roman tombs. Their writings had a significant influence on the artist, but Piranesi goes beyond simply recording the external and internal appearance of the tombs. His compositions are full of dynamics and drama.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi "Tomb located in a vineyard on the road to Tivoli." Sheet from the series “Roman Antiquities” 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

The engraving shows a tomb located in a vineyard on the road to Tivoli. The artist demonstrates appearance tomb, showing her in the foreground from a low point of view. Thanks to this, the structure stands out against the background of the landscape and rises above the viewer.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi "Large sarcophagus and candelabra from the Mausoleum of St. Constance in Rome." Sheet from the series “Roman Antiquities” 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

The engraving shows the sarcophagus and candelabra found in the mausoleum of Constantia (c. 318-354), daughter of Emperor Constantine the Great. Piranesi reproduced one of the sides of the porforated sarcophagus with the image of vines and Cupids crushing grapes. The side of the lid is decorated with a mask of Silenus and a garland. As Piranesi noted, the marble candelabra served as a model for artists in the 15th century, and remains a model for lovers of beauty. Currently, the sarcophagus and candelabra are kept in the Pio Clementina Museum in Rome.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi "Part of the façade of the tomb of Caecilia Metella." Sheet from the suite “Views of Rome” 1762 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

Piranesi fairly accurately reproduced the upper part of the tomb of Caecilia Metella with a dilapidated cornice and frieze decorated with bull skulls and garlands. The name of the buried person is inscribed on the marble slab: Caecilia Metella, daughter of Quintus of Crete, wife of Crassus.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi "Tomb of Caecilia Metella". Sheet from the suite “Views of Rome” 1762 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

Giovanni Battista Piranesi "Plan, façade, vertical section and masonry details of the tomb of Caecilia Metella." Sheet from the series “Roman Antiquities” 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

Several engravings in the series are dedicated to the tomb of Caecilia Metella. The massive cylindrical structure was erected around 50 BC. on the Appian Way near Rome. In the Middle Ages, it was turned into a castle with a battlement in the form of “swallow tails” built on top. For a detailed depiction of the monument, Piranesi used a two-tier compositional scheme, borrowed from Pietro Santi Bartolli from the book Ancient Tombs (1697)

Giovanni Battista Piranesi "Equipments for lifting large traventine stones used in the construction of the tomb of Caecilia Metella." Sheet from the series “Roman Antiquities” 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin.

Piranesi's engraving depicts metal devices for lifting massive stone slabs, one of which was familiar to Piranesi's contemporaries under the name "ulivella". It was believed that Vitruvius wrote about it in the 1st century BC under the name “tanaglia”, and in the 15th century it was rediscovered by another architect - Filippo Bruneleschi. According to Piranesi, the instruments of Vitruvius and Bruneleschi differ from each other and the advantage was with the ancient one, which was easier to use

Giovanni Battista Piranesi "The underground part of the foundation of the mausoleum of Emperor Hadrian." Sheet from the series “Roman Antiquities” 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

The engraving shows the underground part of the foundation of Hadrian's Mausoleum (Castle Sant'Angelo). The artist significantly exaggerated the size of the structure, depicting only part of a giant vertical projection (buttress). The artist admires the regularity and beauty of the ancient masonry, revealing the plasticity of the stones with the help of sharp light and shadow contrasts.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi “View of the bridge and mausoleum. erected by Emperor Hadrian." Sheet from the series “Roman Antiquities” 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

The Mausoleum of Emperor Hadrian (Castle Sant'Angelo) more than once became the object of close attention of Piranesi. The tomb was built under Emperor Hadrian around 134-138. The ashes of many representatives of the imperial house rested here. In X, the building came into the possession of the patrician of the Crescenzi family, who turned the tomb into a fortress. In the 13th century, under Pope Nicholas III, the castle was connected to the Vatican Palace and became a papal citadel. A prison was set up in the lower rooms.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi "Mausoleum and Bridge of Emperor Hadrian." Sheet from the series “Roman Antiquities” 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

This large sheet consists of 2 prints, conceived as a single unit and printed from 2 boards.

Left side. The artist showed a cross-section of the bridge with an underground part and carefully reproduced the underground masonry. He gives interesting details about the construction of the bridge supports: it was believed that Hadrian either directed the Tiber into a different channel, or blocked its channel with a palisade, allowing it to flow on one side. Piranesi admired the strength of the structure, which could withstand frequent floods. The 3 central arched openings show the water level in the Tiber depending on the season (from left to right V) December, June and August. It is interesting that the artist supplemented the technical drawing with landscape elements with views of the banks of the Tiber.

The right side shows the wall of the mausoleum and its underground part. As Piranesi writes, the mausoleum “was covered with rich marbles, decorated with numerous statues depicting people, horses, chariots and other, the most valuable sculptures that Hadrian collected on his journey through the Roman Empire; now, stripped ˂…˃of all its decorations ˂…˃, it looks like a large shapeless mass of masonry.” At a later time, the upper part of the mausoleum (A-B) was lined with brick. The artist also suggested that the height of the mausoleum tower is 3 times the height of the foundation (F-G). Piranesi paid great attention to the underground part of the structure, built from rows of tuff, traventine and fragments of stone, reinforced with buttresses and special arches (M).

Giovanni Battista Piranesi "Entrance to the upper room of the mausoleum of Emperor Hadrian." Sheet from the series “Roman Antiquities” 1756 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin.

The entrance leading to the upper room of the mausoleum of Emperor Andrian is depicted. In the 16th-17th centuries it was used for court sessions and was called the Hall of Justice. The entrance is made of huge blocks of travestine stone, so powerful and durable that Piranesi compared them with the famous Egyptian pyramids. As the artist noted, the arch is excellently strengthened on the sides, since it is forced to withstand the enormous weight of the masonry located above it. The protrusions that were used to lift blocks during construction are clearly visible on the stone.

In 1762, a new work by Pironesi was published, dedicated to the topography of the Campus Martius - the middle of ancient Rome - a vast territory on the left bank of the Tiber, bordered by the Capitol, Quirinal and Pincio Hill. This theoretical work consisted of text based on classical sources; and 50 engravings, including a huge topographic map of the Campus Martius, “Iconography” with which Piranesi began work on the collection.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi "Iconography" or plan of the Campus Martius of ancient Rome. 1757 Sheet from the series “The Field of Mars of Ancient Rome,” the work of G.B. Piranesi, member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of London. 1762" Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

In 1757, Piranesi engraved a huge reconstruction map of the Campus Martius during the late empire. This idea was suggested to the artist by the ancient monumental plan of ancient Rome, carved on marble slabs under Emperor Septimius Severus in 201-0211. A fragment of this plan was discovered in 1562 and was kept in the Capitoline Museum during the time of Piranesi. Piranesi dedicated the plan to the Scottish architect Robert Adam, a friend of the artist. It is believed that it was Adam who convinced him to begin work on the composition of “The Field of Mars” from this map, the most important work of the master, which became “An Anthology of Architectural Ideas!”, which excited the imagination of architects until the 21st century.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi Capitol Stones...1762" Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

The title page is made in the form of a stone slab with the name carved on it in Latin. The slab is decorated with reliefs pointing to the glorious past of Rome and its rulers. At the top, among the mythological characters are the founders of the city - Romulus and Remus, and the ancient coins depict major statesmen - Julius Caesar, Lucius Brutus, Emperor Octavian Augustus. Piranesi uses decorative motifs, traditional for ancient Roman art: garlands of laurel branches, cornucopia, rams' heads. The same motives appear in Piranesi’s designs for applied items.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi “Theatres Balba, Marcellus, amphitheater Statia Taurus, Pantheon” from the series “Campus of Mars”...1762” Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

Piranesi reconstructs the densely built-up neighborhoods of the ancient Campus Martius from a bird's eye view.

The top engraving on the left shows a stone theater built by Lucius Cornelius Balbus the Younger, a Roman general and playwright in 13 BC. On the right is another theater building - the Theater of Marcellus, the second stone theater in Rome (after the Theater of Pompey)

The middle engraving shows the famous Pantheon and the gardens behind it, the artificial lake and the Baths of Agrippa.

Below is the first stone amphitheater in Rome, built in 29 BC, in the square in front of it there is a sundial installed by order of Emperor Augustus. These reconstructions had a powerful impact on the formation of architecture; in particular, they significantly influenced the consciousness of Soviet architects of the 20th century.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi “Marble tablets with lists of Roman consuls and triumphs” sheets for the series “Capitolian Stones” Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

The engraving shows preserved marble tablets with a list of Roman consuls and triumphs from the founding of Rome to the reign of Emperor Tiberius (14-37). From the inscription carved on the top slab it follows that in ancient times the tablets were installed in the Roman Forum.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi “Examples of Roman Ionic capitals in comparison with Greek, righteous ones from Le Roy” sheets for the series “On the greatness and architecture of the Romans” 1761 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

This sheet is a visual response to Piranesi's essay by J.D. Le Roy "Ruins of the most beautiful monuments of Greece" 1758. Piranesi, using drawings by Le Roy, depicts details of Greek architectural monuments in the center of his composition. He compares the capitals of the Erechtheion building on the Athenian Acropolis with several different types Roman Ionic capitals. The purpose of such a comparison is to emphasize the richness and diversity of Roman architectural decoration in comparison with Greek.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi “Part of a fictitious architectural composition with the Ionic order and a dome” sheets for the series “Judgments on Architecture” 1767 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

In the mid-1760s, Piranesi thought a lot about the creative freedom of the modern architect. The engraving shows the facade of the building with Ionic columns, attic and dome. Piranesi began to treat the architectural order very freely. In his opinion, the elements of the order can be modified, varied and swapped.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi “Bases of 2 columns from the Basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura and the Baptistery of Constantine” sheets for the series “On the greatness and architecture of the Romans” 1767 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

Piranesi reproduces the rich decoration decorating the bases of columns from 2 famous early Christian Roman buildings. Above is the base of a column from the Basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura, built in the 4th century on the burial site of the Apostle Paul. The bottom image shows the column base from the Lateran Baptistery, where Emperor Constantine is said to have been baptized.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi “Various relationships and correspondences in Greek architecture, taken from ancient monuments” sheets for the series “On the greatness and architecture of the Romans” 1767 Etching, chisel, Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

Piranesi depicted elements of orders taken from architectural monuments. On the left is the entablature and Doric column of the Theater of Marcellus, erected on the Campus Martius by Emperor Octavian Augustus in Rome (Fig. 1). In the center of the composition is an Ionic column from the Temple of Fortuna Virilis in the Bull Market (Fig. 2), on the left is an entablature and a column of the Corinthian order of the Pantheon pronaos (Fig. 3). In addition to elements of the classical orders, there are richly decorated columns from the early Christian basilicas of Rome of Santa Prassede and San Giovanni in Laterano (Fig. IV; XIII), as well as a twisted column from St. Peter's Cathedral, according to legend, brought by Emperor Constantine the Great from the destroyed Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem (Fig. V).