Giovanni Battista Piranesi
1720-1778
Study of a Capital with Confronted Sphinxes (the Lyde Browne capital)
ca. 1760-1761
3 1/2 x 5 7/16 inches (90 x 139 mm)
Red chalk, over black chalk, on paper.
1966.11:19
Bequest of Junius S. Morgan and gift of Henry S. Morgan.
Notes
On same mat as 1966.11: 20; 40; 101.
In this drawing, Piranesi depicted a capital that was owned by Belisario Amidei, shortly before it was acquired by the English collector Lyde Browne. Browne later moved his antiquities from Rome to Wimbledon and then sold them to Catherine the Great. The ornate capital, with Egyptian sphinxes stylized into decorative forms, was precisely the sort of architectural motif that Piranesi prized. He included a print of it in the Della Magnificenza of 1761 and subsequently modeled the ionic capitals in the facade of Santa Maria del Priorato on its design.
In this drawing, Piranesi depicted a capital that was owned by Belisario Amidei, shortly before it was acquired by the English collector Lyde Browne. Browne later moved his antiquities from Rome to Wimbledon and then sold them to Catherine the Great. The ornate capital, with Egyptian sphinxes stylized into decorative forms, was precisely the sort of architectural motif that Piranesi prized. He included a print of it in the Della Magnificenza of 1761 and subsequently modeled the ionic capitals in the facade of Santa Maria del Priorato on its design.
Inscriptions/Markings
Numbered at lower right, in graphite, "91".
Associated names
Morgan, Jane Norton, 1868-1925, former owner.
Morgan, Junius Spencer, 1892-1960, former owner.
Morgan, Henry S. (Henry Sturgis), 1900-1982, former owner.
Morgan, Junius Spencer, 1892-1960, former owner.
Morgan, Henry S. (Henry Sturgis), 1900-1982, former owner.
Bibliography
Stampfle, Felice. Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Dover, 1978, no. 19, repr.
Artist
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Catalog link
Department