Giovanni Battista Piranesi
1720-1778
Design for a Chimneypiece with Volutes, Dolphins, and a Shell
ca. 1764-1767
7 15/16 x 14 3/16 inches (202 x 361 mm)
Pen and brown ink, over red chalk, on paper.
1966.11:65
Bequest of Junius S. Morgan and gift of Henry S. Morgan.
Notes
Watermark: Probably fleur-de-lis inside double with circle. Watermark
Drawing is on fragment of a proof impression of an etching from "Antichita ̉d'Albano e di Castel Gandolfo," 1764, f. 526, pl. XVII.
This sketch for a chimneypiece incorporates decorative elements encountered elsewhere in Piranesi's work: the medallions found even in his early Venetian drawings, the shell seen in his Lateran designs, and the dolphins adopted from archaeological fragments.
Drawing is on fragment of a proof impression of an etching from "Antichita ̉d'Albano e di Castel Gandolfo," 1764, f. 526, pl. XVII.
This sketch for a chimneypiece incorporates decorative elements encountered elsewhere in Piranesi's work: the medallions found even in his early Venetian drawings, the shell seen in his Lateran designs, and the dolphins adopted from archaeological fragments.
Inscriptions/Markings
Numbered at upper right, inverted, in graphite, "97".
Associated names
Design for (work): Piranesi, Giovanni Battista, 1720-1778. Diverse maniere d'adornare i cammini.
Morgan, Jane Norton, 1868-1925, former owner.
Morgan, Junius Spencer, 1892-1960, former owner.
Morgan, Henry S. (Henry Sturgis), 1900-1982, former owner.
Morgan, Jane Norton, 1868-1925, 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. 65, repr.
Artist
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Catalog link
Department