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A red chalk and brown ink drawing of ancient Roman-style architecture with statues of three figures in the center.

A red chalk and brown ink drawing of ancient Roman-style architecture. A series of arches and columns form a semi-circle in the middle of the space, with an opening on the right. More arches and columns continue and connect in the background. In the center of the space, there are large statues of two seated and one standing figure upon large pedestals.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1945.10
People
Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Italian (Mogliano Veneto, Italy 1720 - 1778 Rome, Italy)
Title
Roman Architectural Fantasy
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
18th century
Culture
Italian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/297422

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Red chalk, brown ink and brown and gray wash on white antique laid paper
Dimensions
52.9 x 38.9 cm (20 13/16 x 15 5/16 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Friends of Art, Archaeology and Music at Harvard Fund
Accession Year
1945
Object Number
1945.10
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Fogg Art Museum, The Bulletin of the Fogg Museum of Art (Cambridge, MA, 1946), p. 173
  • Agnes Mongan, ed., One Hundred Master Drawings, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, 1949), p. 110, repr.
  • Werner Oechslin, "L'intérêt architectural et l'expérience archéologique avant et après Piranèse", Piranèse et les français, Edizioni dell'Elefante (Rome, 1978), pp. 395-418, p. 405 n. 49
  • Konrad Oberhuber, European Master Drawings of Six Centuries from the Collection of the Fogg Art Museum, exh. cat., National Museum of Western Art (Tokyo, 1979), cat. no. 69, n.p., pl. 69, repr.
  • Agnes Mongan, Konrad Oberhuber, and Jonathan Bober, The Famous Italian Drawings at the Fogg Art Museum in Cambridge, Silvana Editoriale (Milan, Italy, 1988), cat. no. 74, pp. 12, 68, repr.
  • Henry A. Millon, ed., The Triumph of the Baroque: Architecture in Europe, 1600-1750, exh. cat., Rizzoli (New York, 1999), cat. no. 644, p. 598, repr.
  • Edouard Kopp, Elizabeth M. Rudy, and Kristel Smentek, ed., Dare to Know: Prints and Drawings in the Age of Enlightenment, exh. cat., Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2022), pp. 103-104, repr. p. 103 as fig. 2

Exhibition History

  • Perception and Illusion, St. Paul's School, Concord, 02/01/1971 - 02/28/1971
  • Giovanni Battista Piranesi Bi-Centennial, Tate Britain, London, 05/03/1978 - 06/25/1978
  • European Master Drawing of Six Centuries from the Collection of the Fogg Art Museum, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 11/03/1979 - 12/16/1979
  • The Triumph of the Baroque: Architecture in Europe 1600-1750, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, 12/09/1999 - 04/09/2000
  • Piranesi and Architectural Fantasy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, 03/31/2001 - 09/19/2001
  • Dare to Know: Prints and Drawings in the Age of Enlightenment, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/16/2022 - 01/15/2023

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu