Piranesi: the Grandeur of Ancient Rome April 5, 2007

Sixty works by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, one of the major artists of 18th century Italian etching, are featured in this exhibition. Born in Venice and educated to be an architect, Piranesi spent most of his life in Rome, becoming an authority on Roman archaeology. Architectural remains of ancient Rome were a major source of inspiration to Piranesi, whose goal -- to show the world the majesty of Roman architecture -- was realized in numerous, often large-scale etchings of famous ancient sites. A superb technician, Piranesi combined a mastery of draftsmanship and perspective, a strong knowledge and love of Roman antiquities, a sense of drama and an epic imagination in his etchings, which frequently featured people dwarfed by their majestic environments. This traveling exhibition, coordinated by Blair-Murrah, includes engravings of Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli, the ancient Roman Forum and the Pyramid Tomb of Caius Cestius, as well as many tombs, ancient amphitheaters, bridges, fountains and temples and architectural fragments of friezes, capitals, columns and ancient ornaments.