Giovanni Battista Piranesi : the complete etchings : Gesamtkatalog der Radierungen : catalogue raisonné des eaux-fortes

Author(s)

Bibliographic Information

Giovanni Battista Piranesi : the complete etchings : Gesamtkatalog der Radierungen : catalogue raisonné des eaux-fortes

Luigi Ficacci ; [English translation Bradley Baker Dick ; German translation Günter Schwabe ; French translation Dominique Reviller]

(Bibliotheca universalis)

Taschen, c2016

Other Title

Piranesi

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Note

English, French and German

Chronology: p. 823-826

Includes bibliographical references (p. 827-831) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

The most famous 18th-century copper engraver, Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778) made his name with etchings of ancient Rome. His startling, chiaroscuro images imbued the city's archaeological ruins with drama and romance and became favorite souvenirs for the Grand Tourists who traveled Italy in pursuit of classical culture and education. Today, Piranesi is renowned not just for shaping the European imagination of Rome, but also for his elaborate series of fanciful prisons, Carceri, which have influenced generations of creatives since, from the Surrealists to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Edgar Allan Poe, Jorge Luis Borges, and Franz Kafka. Loosely based on contemporary stage sets rather than the actual dingy dungeons of Piranesi's day, these intricate images defy architectural reality to play instead with perspective, lighting, and scale. Staircases exist on two planes simultaneously; vast, vaulted ceilings seem to soar up to the heavens; interior and exterior distinctions collapse. With a low viewpoint and small, fragile figures, the prison scenes become monstrous megacities of incarceration, celebrated to this day as masterworks of existentialist drama. About the series Bibliotheca Universalis - Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe!

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Details

  • NCID
    BB23034363
  • ISBN
    • 9783836559409
  • Country Code
    gw
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    engfreger
  • Original Language Code
    ita
  • Place of Publication
    Köln
  • Pages/Volumes
    853 p.
  • Size
    21 cm
  • Classification
  • Subject Headings
  • Parent Bibliography ID
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