Giovanni Battista Piranesi

18th Century Etching of Ancient Roman Architecture by Giovanni Piranesi

1768

"Vaso Cinerario di Gran Mole. Le Teste dei Giovenchi mostrano di reggere it pesante Festone composto di Frutti Fiori Grans ed use. Il tuto Necefsario all Vita Umana. Il Restante degl...

The two plates in this set were created utilizing both engraving and etching techniques by William Hogarth in 1753, originally as illustrations of his book on aesthetics, entitled "Analysis of Beauty". Due to their popularity, these plates were later published separately. The publication line in the lower right reads: "Designed, Engraved, and Publish'd by Wm. Hogarth, March 5th 1753, according to Act of Parliament." Hogarth's original copper plates were refurbished where needed by James Heath and engravings were republished in London in 1822 by Braddock, Cradock & Joy. This was the last time Hogarth's copper plates were used for printing. Most were melted during World War I for the construction of bombs. These large folio sized "Analysis of Beauty" engravings are presented in antiqued gold-colored frames with double mats; the outer silk mats are light brown-colored and the inner mats are dark brown. Each frame measures 27.38" x 31.25" x 1.13". There is one tiny spot in the right margin of plate 1 and another in the lower margin; the latter could be from the printing process. The prints are otherwise in excellent condition. The "Analysis of Beauty" series is in the collection of many major museums, including: The British Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Tate Museum, The Chicago Art Institute and The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. The first engraving (Plate 1) depicts a courtyard of statues which is filled with some of the most famous works of classical sculpture. The most important sculptures are surrounded by less impressive works. The Medicean Venus (#13) is in the center with a statue of Julius Caesar (#19) to the right, elevated on a pulley with a short, overdressed Brutus stands over the falling Caesar. The Apollo Belvedere (#12) is next. A judge stands to the right with his foot on a cherub (#16). Another crying cherub holds a gallows and wipes his tears with the judge's robe. A sphinx (#21) and the drunken Silenus (#107) are below the Venus. Michaelangelo's torso (#54) and a statue of Antonius (#6) are seen in the foreground. The Farnese Hercules (#3) and a bust of another Hercules (#4) under two statuettes of Isis are also included in the scene. The key to these objects is included in the form of a serpentine line winding around a cone (#26), Hogarth's "Line of Beauty". For Hogarth the winding line is an essential element of beauty in art. Hogarth's theory of beauty is communicated in this plate. Plate 2 is thought to represent the Wanstead Assembly, with the Earl of Tynley and his household. It is an adaptation of a scene in the Happy Marriage series, which complements Hogarth's Marriage à la Mode...

A. Tigna Protensa Super Media Epistylia, B. Praecisiones Tigorum Quaqua Versus Extrinsectus Apparentium, C. Opae Extremitates Tigorum Contintes, Fig. I, plate 88 from "Vasi, Candelab...

This large framed 18th century etching by Giovanni Battista Piranesi is entitled "Vaso antico di Marmo adornato di eccellenti Sculture si nella parte anteriere che nell' opposta, le ...

This large framed 18th century etching by Giovanni Battista Piranesi entitled "Veduta dell'interno dell'Anfiteatro Flavio detto il Colosseo" (View of the interior of the Flavian Amph...

This large 18th century etching by Giovanni Battista Piranesi is entitled "Vaso antico di Marmo adornato di eccellenti Sculture si nella parte anteriere che nell' opposta, le quail r...

Bartsch 281, Hind 167 iii/III, Nowell-Usticke 281, iii/III. A fine impression, with burr, as retouched by Baillie in 1792. With an unidentified collectors stamp, verso.

St. Botolph's Bridge (No. 1). 1917. Etching. Comstock catalog 19 state iv. 5 3/4 x 4 1/2 (sheet 9 3/8 x 8 5/8). Edition 50 in this state (total 70 proofs in 4 states.) A rich impres...

Mytton Hall. 1859. Etching and drypoint. Schneiderman catalog 19 state .iii/v. 4 13/16 x 10 5/16 (sheet 5 3/4 x 10 15/16). As published in Études à l'eau-forte XXIV. Illustrated: Guichard, British Etchers, 1850-1940. An extremely rich impression printed on fine laid paper. Signed in the plate. Housed in a 16 x 20-inch archival mat. Mytton Hall is a fifteenth century mansion house situated on the River Ribble, at Whalley near Blackburn, Lancashire. Haden used to stay there when he went salmon fishing. R. Gutekunst, the dealer who inherited the rights to sell all of Francis Seymour Haden's remaining prints upon his death, noted on the front of his catalogue in July 1911: "It may be useful to add that those impressions of Sir Seymour Haden's early and rare etchings, which were published in portfolio form in Paris in 1865-66, under the title Études à l'eau-forte have, with the exception of one or two sets, never been signed in autograph by Sir Seymour, and do not, of course, bear any stamp of any kind." Although Gutekunst had impressions of the majority of Haden's works for sale, he had no remaining impressions of Mytton Hall. Henry Taylor...

This is a second state impression from three states.

Circle of or a follower of Ferdinand Bol - (1616-1680) (PHILOSOPHER READING) ca 1700 Etching on thin laid paper attached to support sheet at the top sh...

Etching on thin, cream laid paper 4 x 3 5/8 inches (100 x 90 mm), with narrow margins, trimmed inside the platemark. Adhesive residue at the top right and left corners, and archival ...