Piranesi
The Venetian-born engraver, archaeologist, architect and architectural theorist Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–1778) lived and worked in Rome from 1740. Impressed by the monumentality of the ruins, he created his first work of city views, Prima parte di Architettura e Prospettive, in 1743, followed by Varie Vedute di Roma Antica e Moderna in 1745. In 1756 Piranesi researched and measured the buildings of ancient Rome and published Antichità romane in four volumes, to which he added ground plans and elevations as well as views. The sale of his vedute to tourists enabled him to set up his own print shop in Palazzo Tomati in Strada Felice (later renamed Via Sistina – and thus one of the streets on which the Bibliotheca Hertziana fronts) in 1761. The Bibliotheca Hertziana owns several works that were printed during his lifetime:
Giovanni Battista Piranesi, De Romanorum magnificentia et architectura, Rome 1761
Ca-PIR 20-3610 raro X
With the acquisition (2023, generously supported by the Michalsky Department) of an almost complete copy of the Vedute di Roma, the library was able to close the last major gap in its collection on the topography of Rome. The prints (all Roman before 1798) are of excellent quality and – a real rarity – in a contemporary representative binding.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Vedute Di Roma, Roma ca. 1775
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Ca-PIR 20-3750/2raro IX
Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Alcune vedute di archi trionfali, ed altri monumenti inalzati da Romani, Rom 1748
Ca-PIR 20-3480 raro gr gr