This ornament print by Giovanni Battista (also known as Giambattista) Piranesi shows a basin supported by Atlantes figures. They are named for Atlas, the mythological Titan who revolted against and, as a result, was condemned by Zeus to support the heavens on his shoulders in perpetuity. The basin is shown on a base supported by sphinxes. In ancient Egypt, a sphinx had the body of a lion with a human head, but in ancient Greek mythology it is represented by a lion’s body with the head and breasts of a woman, and wings, and is the type seen here, which was generally used in Renaissance and later art.

Battista, the son of a mason and master builder, had a wide ranging training in architecture, stage design and perspective composition. This print is from the set entiled Vasi, Candelabri, Cippi, Sarcofagi, Tripodi, Lucerne ed Ornamenti Antichi. Alongside Battista’s other publications, this volume was had a major influence on the development of the Neo-classical style, inspiring the British architects and designers Robert Adam and Sir John Soane, as well as many others.