Paper prisons by giovanni piranesi Chronicles of Piranesi's mental travel pictures in good quality

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

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Biography and creativity.

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

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

His father was a stone carver, and in his youth Piranesi worked in my father's workshop L'Orbo Celega on the Bolshoi Canal, which carried out orders from the architect D. Rossi... Studied architecture with his uncle, architect and engineer Matteo Lucchesi as well as the architect J. A. Scalfarotto... He studied the techniques of perspectivist 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); independently studied treatises on architecture, read the works of ancient authors (his mother's brother, the abbot, became addicted to reading). Into the circle of interests of the young Piranesi also included history and archeology.

Significantly influenced by art as an artist Vedutists, very popular in the middle of the 18th century in Venice.

Left forever in 1740 Veneto and from that time he lived and worked in Rome. Piranesi came to the Eternal City as an engraver and graphic artist as part of the ambassadorial delegation of Venice. He was supported by the ambassador himself Marco Foscarini, senator Abbondio Rezzonico, nephew of the "Pope of Venice" Clement XIII Rezzonico- Prior of the Order of Malta, as well as the "Venetian Pope" himself; most ardent admirer of talent Piranesi, the collector of his works became Lord Carlemont. Piranesi independently improved in drawing and engraving, worked in palazzo di venezia, the residence of the Venetian ambassador in Rome; studied engravings J. Wazi... In a 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 definite role in the formation of style Piranesi played Jean Laurent Le Gay(1710-1786), a famous French draftsman and architect, who worked from 1742 in Rome, close to the circle of students French academy in Rome, with whom he was friends Piranesi.

In Rome Piranesi became a passionate collector: his workshop in palazzo tomati on Strada Felice, full of antique marbles, has been described by many travelers. He was fond of archeology, participated in the measurements of ancient monuments, sketched found works of sculpture and decorative and applied art. He liked to do their reconstruction, like the famous Warwick crater(now in the collection of the Barrell Museum, near Glasgow), which he acquired in the form of separate fragments from a 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) - carried the imprint of the manner of engravings J. Wazi with strong effects of light and shadow, highlighting the dominant architectural monument and at the same time the techniques of master scenographers Veneto using "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 edition title Carceri; View of the Pantheon of Agrippa, The interior of the villa of the Maecenas, Ruins of the sculpture gallery at Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli- series Vedute di Roma).

In 1743 Piranesi published in Rome his first series of prints. The collection of large engravings enjoyed great success Piranesi « Grotesques"(1745) and a series of sixteen sheets" Prison fantasies"(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 impossible for real embodiment.

In 1744, due to a difficult financial situation, he was forced to return to Venice. Improved his engraving technique by studying works 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 proposed 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 the excavation published a fundamental work Le Antichita romane(in 4 volumes) with financial support Lord Carlemont... It emphasized the greatness and importance of the role of Roman architecture for ancient and subsequent European culture... A series of engravings was dedicated to the same theme - the pathos of Roman architecture Della magnificenza ed architettura dei romani(1761) dedicated to the Pope Clement XIII Rezzonico. Piranesi emphasized in it the contribution of the Etruscans to the creation of ancient Roman architecture, their engineering talent, a sense of the structure of monuments, functionality. A similar position Piranesi irritated supporters of the greatest contribution of the Greeks to ancient culture, based on the works of French authors Le Roy, Cordemois, Abbot Laugier, Count de Keyluz... The main exponent of the Pan-Greek theory was the famous French collector P.J. Mariette speaking in Gazette Litterere del'Europe objectionable views Piranesi... In literary work Parere su l'architettura (1765) Piranesi answered him, explaining his position. Heroes of the artist's work Protopiro and Didascallo are arguing like Marietta and Piranesi... In the mouth Didascallo Piranesi put in an important thought that architecture should not be reduced to dry functionality. "Everything should be in accordance with reason and truth, but this threatens to reduce everything to huts." , - wrote Piranesi... The hut was an example of functionality in the writings Carlo Lodoli, an enlightened Venetian abbot whose work he studied Piranesi... Dialogue of heroes Piranesi reflected the state of architectural theory in the 2nd half. XVIII century Variety and imagination should be preferred, 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 London Royal Society of Antiquaries... In 1761 for labor Magnificenza ed architettura dei romani Piranesi was accepted as a member Academy of St. Luke; in 1767 received from the Pope Clement XIII Rezzonico title " cavagliere".

The thought that without diversity, architecture would be reduced to a craft, Piranesi expressed in his subsequent works - decor English cafe(1760s) in the Plaza de España in Rome, where he introduced elements of Egyptian art, and in a series of prints Diverse maniere d'adornare I cammini(1768, also known as Vasi, candelabri, cippi ...). The latter was carried out with the financial support of the senator A. Rezzonico... In the introduction 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, clocks have become the arsenal from which the Empire architects borrowed decorative elements in the interior decoration.

In 1763 the Pope Clement III instructed Piranesi the construction of choirs in the church San Giovanni in Laterano... Main work Piranesi in the field of real, "stone" architecture was the rebuilding of the church Santa maria aventina (1764-1765).

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

Have J. B. Piranesi had their own vision of the role of an architectural monument. As the master of the century Enlightenment he thought it in historical context, dynamic, in the spirit of the Venetian capriccio he liked to combine different temporal layers of the life of architecture Of the eternal city... The idea that a new style is born of the architectural styles of the past, the importance of diversity and imagination in architecture, that the architectural heritage is re-appreciated over time, Piranesi expressed by building a church Santa Maria del Priorato(1764-1766) in Rome at 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 the Venetian perspectivists - everything came together in this talented creation Piranesi, which has become a kind of "encyclopedia" of elements antique decor... The 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 composed of "quotes" taken from antique decor (bucrania, torches, trophies, mascarons, etc.). Artistic heritage the past for the first time so clearly appeared in the historical assessment of the architect of the century Enlightenment, freely and clearly and with a touch of didactics teaching it to his contemporaries.

Drawings J. B. Piranesi are not as numerous as his prints. The museum has the largest collection of them. J. Soana in London. Piranesi worked in various techniques - sanguine, Italian pencil, combined drawings with Italian pencil and pen, ink, adding more wash with a bistrome 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 the Venetian masters-perspectivists, the manner J. B. Tiepolo... Painterly effects dominate in the drawings of the Venetian period; in Rome, it becomes more important for him to convey the clear structure of the monument, the harmony of its forms. With great inspiration, the drawings of the villa Adriana v Tivoli which he called " a place for the soul", sketches Pompeii made in later years creativity. Modern reality and the life of ancient monuments are combined in sheets into a single poetic story about the eternal movement of history, about the connection between the past and the present.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi was born on October 4, 1720 in Mogliano Veneto, in the family of a stone carver.

Education

In his youth, Piranesi devoted himself to working in his father's workshop. Subsequently, he began to study architecture with the uncle of the engineer and architect Matteo Lucchesi, and later with the architect Giovanni Scalfarotto, who was guided in his works by the famous Andrea Palladio, the founder of Palladian architecture. Piranesi takes engraving lessons from the engraver Carlo Zucchi, brother of the famous painter Antonio Zucchi, is actively engaged in self-education, studying treatises on architecture and works of ancient authors.

In 1740 Piranesi left Mogliano Veneto for Rome and there he got a job as a graphic artist at the residence of the Ambassador of Venice in Rome. During this time, he studied engravings by Giuseppe Vasi, the master of veda (genre European painting), and the art of metal engraving.

First works

Piranesi's first works - engravings “ Different kinds Rome "(Varie Vedute di Roma), 1741. and “The first part of architecture and perspective”, (Prima Parte di architettura e Prospettive), 1743, executed in the style of Giuseppe Vazi, with a spectacular play of shadow and light. Piranesi combines both real-life architectural works and fictional ones in the engravings.

In 1745 Piranesi publishes in Rome a series of prints entitled Fantasies on the Theme of Prisons (Piranesi G.B. Carceri d 'Invenzione), which was subsequently very successful. The name of the series did not accidentally use the word "fantasy" - it was the so-called "paper architecture", not embodied in reality

Piranesi refines his craft by studying engravings by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and works by the painter Canaletto Giovanni Antonio. Their influence is felt in the following works of Piranesi - "Views of Rome" (Vedute di Roma), 1746-1748, "Grotesque" (Grotteschi), 1747-1749, Prisons (Carceri), 1749-1750.

English cafe

In 1760 Piranesi decorates the English Cafe (Babingtons), in Rome on the Piazza di Spagna, trying to express his own idea that architecture without variety will be reduced to a craft.

Church of Santa Maria del Priorato

The main architectural work of Piranesi is the church of Santa Maria del Priorato designed by him, built in 1764 - 1765. The temple is an example of neoclassicism in architecture. The dimensions of the structure are 31 by 13 m. The church is part of residence of the Order of Malta.

In 1765, Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta (Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta) was built in Rome according to Piranesi's project, which, like the Church of Santa Maria del Priorato located on it, also belongs to the Order of Malta.

In 1765, Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta (Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta) was built in Rome according to Piranesi's project, which, like the Church of Santa Maria del Priorato located on it, also belongs to the Order of Malta.

The most significant works of Piranesi:

1. A series of engravings "Fantasies on the theme of prisons" (Piranesi G.B. Carceri d 'Invenzione), 1745;

2. A series of engravings "Views of Rome" (Vedute di Roma), 1746-1748;

3. Series of engravings "Grotesque" (Grotteschi), 1747-1749;

4. Series of engravings "Prisons" (Carceri), 1749-1750.

5. English Cafe (Babingtons), Rome, Piazza di Spagna, 1760;

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

Piranesi, Arch of Titus

Piranesi, from the series Dungeons

Piranesi, leaf View of the Basilica of St. Giovanni Laterano

Biography

Born into the family of a stonecutter. Learned the basics of Latin and classical literature with his older brother Angelo. He learned the basics of architecture while working at the Venice magistrate under the guidance of his uncle. As an artist, he was significantly influenced by the Vedutist art, which was very popular in the middle of the 18th century in Venice.

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 portray monumental and difficult to comprehend with the eye. architectural compositions and space. Several sheets of this small series are similar to the engravings of Piranesi's most famous series, Fantastic Images of Prisons.

For the next 25 years, until his death, he lived in Rome; created great amount etchings, prints depicting mainly architectural and archaeological finds associated with ancient Rome, and views of the famous places of the Rome that surrounded the artist. Piranesi's performance, like his craft, is incomprehensible. He conceives and performs a multivolume edition of etchings under the general title "Roman Antiquities", containing images of architectural monuments ancient rome, column capitals of ancient buildings, sculptural fragments, sarcophagi, stone vases, candelabra, paving slabs, gravestones, building plans 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 have preserved for us the appearance of Rome in the 18th century. Delight ancient civilization Rome and understanding of the inevitability of her death, when on the site of the majestic buildings modern people preoccupied with their humble daily routines - this is the main motive of these prints.

In the classical world, he [Piranesi] was attracted not so much by the greatness of creation as by the greatness of destruction. His imagination was struck not so much by the work of human hands as by the touch of the hand of time. In the spectacle of Rome, he saw only the tragic side of things, and therefore his Rome came out even more grandiose than it ever was in reality.

Interest in the ancient world manifested itself in the pursuit of archeology. A year before his death, Piranesi investigated the ancient Greek temples in Paestum, then almost unknown, and created an excellent series of large engravings dedicated to this ensemble.

In the field of practical architecture, Piranesi's activities were very modest, although he himself never forgot to title pages add the words "Venetian architect" after their name to their engraving suites. But in the 18th century, the era of monumental construction in Rome was already over.

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

Gallery

Main works

• Opere di Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Francesco Piranesi e d'altri (unavailable link) (1835-1839)

Notes (edit)

Literature

• S. A. Toropov. Piranesi. - M .: Publishing house of the All-Union Academy of Architecture, 1939.
• Rossi F. On the influence of Piranesi on the work of Cameron in the interiors of Tsarskoe Selo // Italian collection. - SPb., No. 5. - S. 107-120.
• Norbert Miller. Archäologie des Traums: Versuch über Giovanni Battista Piranesi. - München; Wien: Hanser, 1978.

Categories:

• Personalities alphabetically
• Born on October 4
• Born in 1720
• Born in Mogliano Veneto
• Deceased November 9
• Dead in 1778
• Dead in Rome
• Alphabet Artists
• Italian architects
• Italian painters

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Giovanni Battista Piranesi (October 4, 1720, Mogliano Veneto (near Treviso) - November 9, 1778, Rome) - Italian archaeologist, architect and graphic artist, master of architectural landscapes.

Biography of Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Born into the family of a stonecutter. He studied the basics of Latin and classical literature with his older brother Angelo.

He learned the basics of architecture while working at the Venice magistrate under the guidance of his uncle. As an artist, he was significantly influenced by the Vedutist art, which was very popular in the middle of the 18th century in Venice.

In 1740 he went to Rome as a draftsman and graphic artist as part of the ambassadorial delegation of Marco Foscarini. In Rome, he enthusiastically explored ancient architecture... Along the way, he studied the art of metal engraving in the workshop of Giuseppe Vazi.

In 1743-1747 he lived mostly in Venice, where, among other things, he worked with Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.

Creativity by Giovanni Battista Piranesi

In it you can see the main signs of his style - the desire and ability to depict monumental architectural compositions and spaces that are difficult to comprehend with the eye. Several sheets of this small series are similar to the engravings of Piranesi's most famous series, Fantastic Images of Prisons.

For the next 25 years, until his death, he lived in Rome; created a huge number of engravings-etchings, depicting mainly architectural and archaeological finds associated with ancient Rome, and views of the famous places of that Rome, which surrounded the artist.

Piranesi's performance, like his craft, is incomprehensible. He conceives and executes a multivolume edition of etchings under the general title "Roman Antiquities", containing images of architectural monuments of ancient Rome, capitals of columns of ancient buildings, sculptural fragments, sarcophagi, stone vases, candelabra, paving slabs, gravestones, plans of buildings and urban ensembles ...

Over the past decades, Piranesi's fame and fame has been growing every year. More and more books about him are being published and the best museums in the world organize exhibitions of his works.

Piranesi is probably the most famous artist, who gained such fame only in graphics, unlike other great engravers who were, in addition, great painters (Durer, Rembrandt, Goya).

In 1763, Pope Clement XIII commissioned Piranesi to build a choir in the church of San Giovanni in Laterano. Piranesi's main work in real, "stone" architecture was the rebuilding of the church of Santa Maria Aventina (1764-1765).

The artist had a strong influence on subsequent generations of romantic artists and - later - on the surrealists.

He made a large number of drawings and drawings, but erected few buildings, therefore the concept of "paper architecture" is associated with his name.

In 1740, the Venetian Republic decided to send an embassy to the pope, and Piranesi was included in the ambassador's retinue as a draftsman.

In Rome, he entered the circle of artists and architects - boarders of the French Academy, learned from them, according to Legrand, one of Piranesi's biographers, “a wide easy drawing and the dizzying art of grasping with the eye and transmitting with feeling that beat of life, without which everything around us is cold and fruitless. "

During his three years in Rome, Piranesi worked as a theater designer and at the same time studied the architecture of antiquity, the Renaissance and the Baroque, studying theoretical works and making countless sketches of monuments. His first experiments in engraving date back to the end of this period.

This was the century of the so-called "paper architecture": illusory landscapes, castles in the air, fantastic perspective compositions.

Boundless spaces with unreal architecture, amazing monumentality and incredible foreshortenings captivated young Piranesi.

Since that time, special methods of hypertrophy of forms and chiaroscuro appear in his works, which will become distinctive feature his mature style.

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

Born into the family of a stonecutter. He studied the basics of Latin and classical literature with his older brother Angelo. He learned the basics of architecture while working at the Venice magistrate under the guidance of his uncle. As an artist, he was significantly influenced by the Vedutist art, which was very popular in the middle of the 18th century in Venice.

In 1740 he went to Rome as a draftsman and graphic artist as part of the ambassadorial delegation of Marco Foscarini. In Rome, he enthusiastically researched ancient architecture. Along the way, he studied the art of metal engraving in the workshop of Giuseppe Vazi. In 1743-1747 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 architectural compositions and spaces that are difficult to comprehend with the eye. Several sheets of this small series are similar to the engravings of Piranesi's most famous series, Fantastic Images of Prisons.

For the next 25 years, until his death, he lived in Rome; created a huge number of engravings-etchings, depicting mainly architectural and archaeological finds associated with ancient Rome, and views of the famous places of that Rome, which surrounded the artist. Piranesi's performance, like his craft, is incomprehensible. He conceives and executes a multivolume edition of etchings under the general title "Roman Antiquities", containing images of architectural monuments of ancient Rome, capitals of columns of ancient buildings, sculptural fragments, sarcophagi, stone vases, candelabra, paving slabs, gravestones, 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 have preserved for us the appearance of Rome in the 18th century. Admiration for the ancient civilization of Rome and understanding of the inevitability of its death, when modern people are busy with their modest daily affairs on the site of magnificent buildings, this is the main motive of these engravings.

A special place in Piranesi's work is occupied by a series of engravings "Fantastic Images of Prisons", better known simply as "Prisons". 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 plates. "Prisons" are architectural constructions, gloomy and frightening in their size and lack of comprehensible logic, where spaces are mysterious, just as the purpose of these stairs, bridges, passages, blocks and chains is incomprehensible. The power of stone structures is overwhelming. Creating the second version of "Prisons", 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 fame has been growing every year. More and more books about him are being published and the best museums in the world organize exhibitions of his works. Piranesi is probably the most famous artist who gained such fame only in graphics, in contrast to other great engravers who were, in addition, great painters (Durer, Rembrandt, Goya).

Interest in the ancient world manifested itself in the pursuit of archeology. A year before his death, Piranesi investigated the ancient Greek temples in Paestum, then almost unknown, and created an excellent series of large engravings dedicated to this ensemble.

In the sphere of practical architecture, Piranesi's activity was very modest, although he himself never forgot to add the word “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 was already over.

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

He 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, among other things, works by Giovanni Battista Piranesi were sold in their print shop. Engraved copper plates were also transported to Paris. Subsequently, after changing several owners, they were acquired by the Pope and are currently located in Rome, in the state Calcography.

Sources - Wikipedia and