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Plate 23, Volume 3

Print
ca. 1750 (printed), 1803-1807 (produced)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Double page landscape format engraving in black and white of a view of the burial chamber of the freedmen and slaves of the family of Augustus. The engraving depicts a cross section of the tomb, showing the rows and number of niches on the back wall, and the depth of the niches on the side walls where the cross section has been taken. The room is shown to be three archways wide, and each archway has four sepulchral niches. The mausoleum is also shown to be underground, as the surface level is depicted at the very top of the engraving, by trees growing from the ground. A man dressed in eighteenth century clothing stands in the underground doorway to the mausoleum, looking up at one of the niches. An Italian inscription at the bottom of the engraving explains different features of the engraving.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitlePlate 23, Volume 3 (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
engraving, paper
Brief description
'Plate 23, Volume 3', engraving from Le Antichita Romane di Giambatista Piranesi, Volume 3, drawn by Antonio Buonamici, engraved by Girolamo Rossi, ca. 1750, volume bound together in Paris by Tessier, 1803-1807
Physical description
Double page landscape format engraving in black and white of a view of the burial chamber of the freedmen and slaves of the family of Augustus. The engraving depicts a cross section of the tomb, showing the rows and number of niches on the back wall, and the depth of the niches on the side walls where the cross section has been taken. The room is shown to be three archways wide, and each archway has four sepulchral niches. The mausoleum is also shown to be underground, as the surface level is depicted at the very top of the engraving, by trees growing from the ground. A man dressed in eighteenth century clothing stands in the underground doorway to the mausoleum, looking up at one of the niches. An Italian inscription at the bottom of the engraving explains different features of the engraving.
Dimensions
  • Height: 55.4cm (approx)
  • Width: 41.1cm
Marks and inscriptions
(The Italian inscription explains different features of the engraving. )
Object history
This image depicts the columbarium (underground burial chamber) of the freedmen of Livia, which was discovered on the Via Appia in Rome in around 1725.

This print was originally published in Francesco Bianchini's 'Camere ed Inscrizioni Sepulchrali', Rome: GM Salvioni, 1727. Piranesi purchased the copper plate and reprinted the illustration in his 'Antichita Romane'.
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Associations
Bibliographic references
  • From departmental notes.
  • From the bookbinders' label on the inside cover of Volume 3 of 'Le Antichita Romane di Giambatista Piranesi.'
Collection
Accession number
E.4120-1908

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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