Inscriptions and fragments from the tomb chambers of Arruntii
Print
1756 (first), 1803-1807 (published)
1756 (first), 1803-1807 (published)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This print is from Roman Antiquities vol. II, a bound volume of etchings by Giovanni Battista and his son Francesco Piranesi.
The prints comprise Volume 2 of 27 volumes of etchings published in Paris by the Calcographie des Piranesi frères (1800-1807). This volume contains 63 plates (folio and large folio), uniformly bound in red half morocco over marbled boards by Tessier, Paris (label in each volume), spines with raised bands gilt. For the complete set of prints in this volume see accession numbers: E.4035-4097-1908. The copperplates are in the Istituto Centrale per la Grafica, Rome.
The first edition of Piranesi’s Roman Antiquities was published in 1756, in four volumes, with the original title LE ANTICHITÀ ROMANE OPERA DI GIAMBATTISTA PIRANESI ARCHITETTO VENEZIANO DIVISA IN QUATTRO TOMI [...] IN ROMA MDCCLVI Nella Stamperia di Angelo Rotilj nel Palazzo de’ Massimi. Con licenza de' superiori si vendono in Roma dai Signori Bouchard, e Gravier Mercanti libraj al Corso presso san Marcello. Piranesi had obtained the sponsorship for this book from the Irish nobleman, Lord Charlemont, to whom it was dedicated. With the rapid accumulation of material the project expanded. Piranesi was promised Charlemont’s financial support for the four-volume work; however, by the time that the Antichità appeared in 1756, Charlemont had returned to Ireland and Piranesi, despite several letters to his patron, failed to receive the substantial payment he was counting on. In exasperation he eventually deleted the dedication to Charlemont from the main frontispiece to Volume I, and issued the Lettere di Giustificazione a Milord Charlemont as a defence of his action.
Further alterations took place when Francesco Piranesi issued another edition in 1784. In this, the much-altered title page to Volume I, which appears to have gone through at least three states in 1756-57, was change yet again, this time to receive a dedication to Gustav III of Sweden an important patron on Francesco. The plates of the Antichità include works by or after other artists, chiefly in Volume II and III. In the Antichità Piranesi consciously sets out to apply a completely new system of archaeological inquiry to the study of the remains of antiquity.
The first volume explains the urban structure of ancient Rome in terms of its walls, defences ad aqueducts as well as its civic and religious monuments. The next two volumes, which incorporate the plates of the Camera Sepolcrali, are devoted to the extensive remains of tombs ad funerary monuments around Rome. The final volume expounds the heroic feats of Roman engineering represented by bridges and monumental structures. According to Wilton Ely, the exaggerated scale and the concern with technology of these latter works, there are already signs of Piranesi’s attempts to counteract the increasing claims for the superiority of Greek art and architecture being made by Winkelman and Laugier.
The prints comprise Volume 2 of 27 volumes of etchings published in Paris by the Calcographie des Piranesi frères (1800-1807). This volume contains 63 plates (folio and large folio), uniformly bound in red half morocco over marbled boards by Tessier, Paris (label in each volume), spines with raised bands gilt. For the complete set of prints in this volume see accession numbers: E.4035-4097-1908. The copperplates are in the Istituto Centrale per la Grafica, Rome.
The first edition of Piranesi’s Roman Antiquities was published in 1756, in four volumes, with the original title LE ANTICHITÀ ROMANE OPERA DI GIAMBATTISTA PIRANESI ARCHITETTO VENEZIANO DIVISA IN QUATTRO TOMI [...] IN ROMA MDCCLVI Nella Stamperia di Angelo Rotilj nel Palazzo de’ Massimi. Con licenza de' superiori si vendono in Roma dai Signori Bouchard, e Gravier Mercanti libraj al Corso presso san Marcello. Piranesi had obtained the sponsorship for this book from the Irish nobleman, Lord Charlemont, to whom it was dedicated. With the rapid accumulation of material the project expanded. Piranesi was promised Charlemont’s financial support for the four-volume work; however, by the time that the Antichità appeared in 1756, Charlemont had returned to Ireland and Piranesi, despite several letters to his patron, failed to receive the substantial payment he was counting on. In exasperation he eventually deleted the dedication to Charlemont from the main frontispiece to Volume I, and issued the Lettere di Giustificazione a Milord Charlemont as a defence of his action.
Further alterations took place when Francesco Piranesi issued another edition in 1784. In this, the much-altered title page to Volume I, which appears to have gone through at least three states in 1756-57, was change yet again, this time to receive a dedication to Gustav III of Sweden an important patron on Francesco. The plates of the Antichità include works by or after other artists, chiefly in Volume II and III. In the Antichità Piranesi consciously sets out to apply a completely new system of archaeological inquiry to the study of the remains of antiquity.
The first volume explains the urban structure of ancient Rome in terms of its walls, defences ad aqueducts as well as its civic and religious monuments. The next two volumes, which incorporate the plates of the Camera Sepolcrali, are devoted to the extensive remains of tombs ad funerary monuments around Rome. The final volume expounds the heroic feats of Roman engineering represented by bridges and monumental structures. According to Wilton Ely, the exaggerated scale and the concern with technology of these latter works, there are already signs of Piranesi’s attempts to counteract the increasing claims for the superiority of Greek art and architecture being made by Winkelman and Laugier.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Titles |
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| Materials and techniques | Etching with engraving, ink on paper |
| Brief description | ‘Inscriptions and fragments from the tomb chambers of Arruntii’, plate 14 from a set of 63 plates, G. Piranesi, Le Antichità Romane, vol.II, bound in Paris by Tessier, 1803-1807, etching printed on two plates with engraving by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Rome, figures by J. Barbault |
| Physical description | Double page landscape format engraving of rnaments and inscriptions found in the tomb of the family of L. Arrunzio on the Appian Way. The engraving includes several stones, engraved to look as if they are arranged on a shelf. Specific figures depcited include a classical figure, pegasus and several bowls and vases. A face of a man is also depicted. The letters provide A-F a key, which is explained in Italian at the bottom of the engraving. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | Upper right: ‘XIV’
Upper left: ‘Tom. II.’
Lower: ‘Iscrizioni e Frammenti delle Camere sepolcrali della Famiglia Arrunzia ec.’
Lower right: ‘Barbault scolp. le Fig.’
Lower left: ‘Piranesi Archit.o dis. ed inc.’
‘A Vasi di terra finissima invetriati di colore d'argento. B Ampolle di vetro. Servivano gli uni, e l'altre per uso degli annui lugubri Sacrificj. C Pavimento di / Mosaico della Camera. D Pezzo di Stucco nelle riquadrature della Volta, il quale esprime una specie d'Ippogrifo, od altro animale capricciosamente formato in / grottesco. E Altro pezzo di Stucco pure nei scompartimenti della Volta, rappresentante in grottesco una Donna ritta sopra un piede fatto in bizzarria in forma / di calice, la quale sostiene sopra il capo una mensa con erbaggi, e frutti. F Frammenti di marmo, in cui è scolpita di mezzo rilievo la maschera di un Zefiro. / Veggonsi sparse pel piano varie Lucerne, Vasi, e Patere.’ Note The inscription explains the letters which are dotted about the engraving, highlighting different aspects. |
| Object history | The collection of volumes was previously owned by architect Decimus Burton (1800-1881) and his bookplate is pasted in the inside cover of this volume. |
| Production | Lettered on the spine of the volume: ‘G. PIRANESI/ LE / ANTICHITA’/ ROMANE/ VOL.II’ This volume of prints was bound by Tessier bookbinders, Paris, and has their trade label pasted on the inside cover of the volume: Rue de la Harpe, Au-dessus de celle de Médecine, no. 132; Tessier/ Relieur et doureur/ De la Trésorerie nationale du Bureau/ de la Guerre/ et Calcographie piranesi/ A Paris' Francesco and Pietro Piranesi set up the Calcographie des Piranèse Frères in Paris after having fled Rome in 1799. The Calcographie was active between 1800 and 1810. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Place depicted | |
| Association | |
| Summary | This print is from Roman Antiquities vol. II, a bound volume of etchings by Giovanni Battista and his son Francesco Piranesi. The prints comprise Volume 2 of 27 volumes of etchings published in Paris by the Calcographie des Piranesi frères (1800-1807). This volume contains 63 plates (folio and large folio), uniformly bound in red half morocco over marbled boards by Tessier, Paris (label in each volume), spines with raised bands gilt. For the complete set of prints in this volume see accession numbers: E.4035-4097-1908. The copperplates are in the Istituto Centrale per la Grafica, Rome. The first edition of Piranesi’s Roman Antiquities was published in 1756, in four volumes, with the original title LE ANTICHITÀ ROMANE OPERA DI GIAMBATTISTA PIRANESI ARCHITETTO VENEZIANO DIVISA IN QUATTRO TOMI [...] IN ROMA MDCCLVI Nella Stamperia di Angelo Rotilj nel Palazzo de’ Massimi. Con licenza de' superiori si vendono in Roma dai Signori Bouchard, e Gravier Mercanti libraj al Corso presso san Marcello. Piranesi had obtained the sponsorship for this book from the Irish nobleman, Lord Charlemont, to whom it was dedicated. With the rapid accumulation of material the project expanded. Piranesi was promised Charlemont’s financial support for the four-volume work; however, by the time that the Antichità appeared in 1756, Charlemont had returned to Ireland and Piranesi, despite several letters to his patron, failed to receive the substantial payment he was counting on. In exasperation he eventually deleted the dedication to Charlemont from the main frontispiece to Volume I, and issued the Lettere di Giustificazione a Milord Charlemont as a defence of his action. Further alterations took place when Francesco Piranesi issued another edition in 1784. In this, the much-altered title page to Volume I, which appears to have gone through at least three states in 1756-57, was change yet again, this time to receive a dedication to Gustav III of Sweden an important patron on Francesco. The plates of the Antichità include works by or after other artists, chiefly in Volume II and III. In the Antichità Piranesi consciously sets out to apply a completely new system of archaeological inquiry to the study of the remains of antiquity. The first volume explains the urban structure of ancient Rome in terms of its walls, defences ad aqueducts as well as its civic and religious monuments. The next two volumes, which incorporate the plates of the Camera Sepolcrali, are devoted to the extensive remains of tombs ad funerary monuments around Rome. The final volume expounds the heroic feats of Roman engineering represented by bridges and monumental structures. According to Wilton Ely, the exaggerated scale and the concern with technology of these latter works, there are already signs of Piranesi’s attempts to counteract the increasing claims for the superiority of Greek art and architecture being made by Winkelman and Laugier. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Other number | M-1400_63a and M-1400_63b - Istituto Centrale per la Grafica, Rome – matrix inventory number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.4048-1908 |
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| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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