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View of the Piazza Navona above the Ruins of the Circus Agonalis [Circus of Domitian], from Views of Rome

Date

1773

Creator

Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Raclin Murphy Museum of Art

As an etching of St. Peter's Basiilica, Pianesi's second view of the Piazza Navona depicts contemporary Rome, referencing its ancient foundations in the title inscription. By using his now finely honed printmaking techniques and elements of theatrical composition, Piranesi creates a dynamic scene and an illusion of profound depth in space. He has employed an extremely wide range of blacks and grays, emphasizing points of shadow and sunlight and constructing atmospheric perspective as the long piazza recedes into the distance. The Fontana del Moro abuts against the frame closest to the viewer and seems enveloped in a shadow cast by an unseen building to the right. The dark blacks that articulate this fountain, the hatching at the right, and the shadow on the Pamphili Palace at the left present a sharp contrast to the delicate grays at the vanishing point. By then pushing this point of convergence to the right, a characteristic of his compositions, Piranesi permits an uninterrupted view of the piazza's monuments including Borromini's church of Sant'Angese, the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, and the Fonatana del Nettuno.

from Sullo, The World of Piranesi: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Learning beyond the Classroom through Italian Language and Culture (Notre Dame, 2010)

Images

This is called View of the Piazza Navona above the Ruins of the Circus Agonalis [Circus of Domitian], from Views of Rome within the category of Prints.Open in external viewer application
This is called View of the Piazza Navona above the Ruins of the Circus Agonalis [Circus of Domitian], from Views of Rome within the category of Prints.
This is called View of the Piazza Navona above the Ruins of the Circus Agonalis [Circus of Domitian], from Views of Rome within the category of Prints.

Metadata

Creator
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian, 1720 - 1778)
Date
1773
Classification
Prints
Related Location
Rome, Europe, Italy, Roma, Lazio
Medium
Etching on laid paper
Dimensions
21 3/4 x 31 3/4 in. (55.25 x 80.65 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Harvey and Rica Simmons Spivack
Copyright Status
Public domain
Subject
intaglio prints
piazzas
Roman

Metadata

Accession Number
2006.008.013
Campus Location
Raclin Murphy Museum of Art
Access

Not on view, please request access

Metadata

Contact Us

Our collection information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. If you have spotted an error, please contact Raclin Murphy Museum of Art at RMMACollections@nd.edu.


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