330
Piranesi, Giovanni Battista
Roman antiquities ... divided into four volumes - Of the magnificence and architecture of the Romans - Antiquities of Albano -, 1784
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Rome, & nbsp; in the Salomoni printing house in the square of S. Ignazio, 1784. In Atlantic folio, 415 x 540 mm., 4 volumes, editorial hardcover by the Piranesian printing house § Of the magnificence and architecture of the Romans by Gio. Battista Piranesi member of the Royal Academy of Antiquaries of London , Romae, 1761. In Atlantic folio, 415 x 540 mm., Portrait on the Piranesi title page, 3 large engraved titles, 2 index sheets, dedication double-page spread to the public and to posterity, 245 engravings on 212 papers, many double-page or folded, editorial hardcover by Piranesian printing house. § The Theater of Herculaneum / [Francesco Piranesi. In Rome: in the Salomoni printing house, (1783?). In Atlantic folio, 415 x 540 mm., Double-page frontispiece and 9 numbered and engraved plates by Francesco Piranesi, editorial hardcover by the Piranesian printing house. § & Antiquities of Albano and Castel Gandolfo described and engraved by Giovambatista Piranesi - & nbsp ; Description and drawing of the Albano lake emissary - Of two caverns decorated by the ancients on the shore of Lake Albano and also together with the Antiquities of Cora . & nbsp; In Rome, [1762-1764]. & In Atlantic folio, 415 x 540 mm., 26 plates the first work, & nbsp; 9 plates the second, 12 plates the third , editorial hardcover of the Piranesian printing house.
Specialist Notes
The first edition of Roman Antiquities dated 1756, & nbsp; four volumes with a total of 252 tables, some of which were added in the final edition of 1757, further enriched in the editions & nbsp; The problems that arose with Charlemont, his first financier, led to the replacement of the title pages, with a dedication to posterity and the addition of the formula «utilitate publicae ". But they also made Piranesi aware of the need for a " total independence of the intellectual from the consolidated mechanisms of patronage. The artist, Piranesi postulated, must be able to create his works for a free market, rejecting any conditioning inherent in the mechanisms of aristocratic clients and claiming a social and entrepreneurial role that would reach full maturity in the following century. " (Treccani, sub vocis )
From the end of the forties of the eighteenth century, it became & nbsp; figure of reference in the numerous international community present in Rome, linked to the phenomenon of & nbsp; grand tour . The works present here were mainly intended for the many European travelers who came on "pilgrimage" to admire the masterpieces of Roman antiquity. Also for them in 1761 he published & nbsp; Of the magnificence and architecture of the Romans : "< / span> the text, certainly written by several hands, is a polemical proclamation of the superiority of Roman civilization, of which the aspects deriving from Greece are denied; the tables reproduce the great public works of antiquity to exalt the extraordinary technical skills and creative exuberance of Roman architecture, opposed to the simple uniformity of the Greek one. " & nbsp; < / span>
A great personality, on the Italian and international scene: " Engraver, editor, topographer, architect, decorator, polemicist, merchant, Piranesi, with his volcanic personality and charismatic character, with his outbursts of enthusiasm and his fits of anger, the o vengeful, jealous, greedy and interested spirit and his indefatigable ability to work, aroused admiration, awe, aversion in his contemporaries. While still alive, his work was celebrated or opposed by patrons, collectors, artists and intellectuals. & nbsp; "(Treccani, sub vocis ).
This copy is offered in the best possible conditions, with the editorial binding prepared by Piranesi in his atelier and the freshness of incisions as sharp as they have just come out of the presses.
Titles of volumes I-IV:
The Roman antiquities by the cavalier Giambatista Piranesi Venetian architect divisa in four volumes, the first of which contains the remains of the ancient buildings in Rome, arranged on a topographical table ... and illustrated with fragments of the ancient marble ichnography, and with a critical index ... enriched with supplementary tables .. . In the second and third the remains of the sepulchral monuments existing in Rome, and in the Agro Romano with their respective plants, ... In the fourth the ancient bridges of Rome ..., hill vestiges of the ancient Tiber island, the remains of the theaters, ... First volume [-quarto]
Wilton-Ely279 ff .; Focillon pp. 297-310; Hind pp. 83-84