"Diverse Maniere d'Adornare i Cammini ..." Book by Giovanni Battista Piranesi

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"Diverse Maniere d'Adornare i Cammini ..." Book by Giovanni Battista Piranesi

About the Item

Diverse maniere d'adornare i cammini ed ogni altra parte degli edifizi desunte dall'architettura egizia, etrusca, e greca. Con un ragionamento apologetico in difesa dell'architettura egizia, e toscana by Giovanni Battista Piranesi. [4], 30, [2], 31-35, [3] pp. Illustrated with 77 engraved plates (including caption plates) of which eight are paired on four leaves (Focillon 862, 878, 919, 923) and three are printed in the text (Focillon 855-856, 860), all by Piranesi. Folio, bound in later Italian half calf over marbled boards, spine gilt ("Tom. IV"). Roma: Salamoni, 1769. First Edition, a crisp, clean copy with early watermarks (Robison "Piranesi" no. 37 = "1760-early 1770s") of Piranesi's hugely influential documentary work on designs for chimneys and furniture. This was to be Piranesi's final polemical and theoretical publication; it was addressed to an international audience of designers and patrons, and proved to be his most influential contribution to the decorative arts. The text appears in Italian, French, and English; it contributed simultaneously to the Greek Revival style, the Etruscan Style, and the Egyptian Revival throughout Europe. Well over 100 separate items of furniture and decorative design are illustrated: in addition to the 61 chimney-piece designs there are six commodes, ten tables, three tripod stands, four chairs, two pairs of shutters, two candelabras, two candlestands, 12 candlesticks, three sconces, 23 clocks, 12 vases (or urns), 12 tea or coffee pots, various portions of moldings, and the woodwork of six coaches and 12 sedan chairs. "The chimneypiece attracted Piranesi as the architectural member of a decorative interior offering maximum scope for applying his innovatory aesthetic to a strictly modern need" (Wilton-Ely, The Mind and Art of Giovanni Battista Piranesi, p. 106). Etruscan imagery always fascinated Piranesi, rising to a level of obsession in delving into the beginnings of "Italian" archaeology and design. Motifs such as the lyre, shepherd's pipes, bird wings, cornucopias and serpents are found throughout the Diverse Maniere. The other major motif was Egyptian, which Piranesi promulgated especially in his famous chimneypieces. His designs foreshadow the European craze for Egyptian design by at least a decade. Dedicated to his patron Cardinal Giambatista Rezzonico. Several illustrated pieces of furniture in the work were executed after Piranesi's designs for Rezzonico's apartments at the Quirinal and at the Palazzo Senatorio. In the lengthy preface Piranesi defends the creative originality of the Etruscans and discusses the ornamental vocabulary of the Egyptians; but his main theme was the need for creative license in order to fashion a modern style based on a broadly eclectic study of all forms of antiquity. PROVENANCE: Edmond L. Lincoln with his ex-libris. Focillon, nos. 854-926. Exploring Rome: Piranesi and his Contemporaries, pp. 115-118. Wilton- Ely, Piranesi: The Complete Etchings F1. Susan M. Dixon, "Giovanni Battista Piranesi's Diverse maniere d'adornare i cammini and Chimneypiece Design as a Vehicle for Polemic," in Studies in the Decorative Arts (Fall 1993), I:1.

Creator:
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Artist)
Dimensions:
Height: 54 in (137.16 cm)Width: 40 in (101.6 cm)Depth: 5 in (12.7 cm)
Materials and Techniques:
Paper
Place of Origin:
Italy
Period:
1760-1769
Date of Manufacture:
1769
Condition:
Binding a little rubbed with some edgewear.
Seller Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
Seller: 1439381stDibs: LU138222565202