GIOVAN BATTISTA PIRANESI | Vases, candelabra, cippi, sarcophagi, tripods, oil lamps and ornaments ...

GIOVAN BATTISTA PIRANESI | Vases, candelabra, cippi, sarcophagi, tripods, oil lamps and ancient ornaments Rome, c. 1780. 10 plates, etching and burin on large-format virgin paper. Published in Rome between 1778 and 1780, the collection "Vasi, candelabri, cippi, sarcophagi, tripodi, lucerne, ed ornamenti antichi" represents the spiritual and artistic testament of Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Consisting of 112 large-format plates, the work constitutes one of the pillars of European neoclassical culture, skillfully blending archaeological rigor and visionary invention. Piranesi, also working as a restorer and merchant in his workshop at the Palazzo Tomati, conceived this series with a dual purpose: on the one hand, it served as a luxurious sales catalog for wealthy Grand Tour travelers; on the other, it represented a theoretical manifesto aimed at celebrating the inexhaustible imagination of Roman ornamentation against the Greek rigor advocated by Winckelmann. Many of the objects depicted were manipulated or integrated by the artist himself, who combined ancient fragments with modern elements to create models of aesthetic "perfection." Stylistically, the engravings are distinguished by a dramatic use of chiaroscuro and an almost obsessive technical precision that gives the objects a monumental solemnity. The work had a formidable impact on the taste of the time, directly influencing the development of the Empire style and Regency taste in England. Each panel often bears a dedication to distinguished figures of the time, such as the collector William Beckford, highlighting the role of art as an instrument of cultural diplomacy. Due to Giovanni Battista's death in 1778, the publication was completed and managed by his son Francesco Piranesi. This historical circumstance often generates overlap in bibliographic attributions and auction catalogs, where the prints are sometimes referred to the son, despite the fact that the conception and much of the execution belonged to the masterful hand of the father. Today these etchings are held in the world's major institutions as evidence of a heritage that shaped the imagery of antiquity in the West. Also sold individually for €400 including frame.