Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Study for the lower part of plate 13 of the "Diverse maniere d'adornare i cammini," 1769, f. 873.
The drawing on the verso corresponds, roughly, to the section view at lower right of the Pianta dell'Anfiteatro eretto da Domiziano presso Alba Lunga, plate 11 of the Antichità d'Albano e di Castel Gandolfo of 1764. It is far from an exact correspondence, however, despite two layers of drawing: one in black, and one in red chalk that seems to simplify the initial view. The inscription at the top of the sheet (Pianta dell'Anfiteatro Albano eretto dall'Imp. Domi[ziano] e presentemente rinchiuso nell'orto de' Monaci Gir[olamini] / S. Paolo Della...) relates to the central inscription in the print but does not match the published version exactly (Pianta dell'Anfiteatro eretto da Domiziano presso Alba Lunga: or rinchiuso nell'orto de' Monaci Girolamini d' Albano). The drawing thus must represent a very early, much revised draft for that plate. In Piranesi's usual practice, such a drawing was strictly functional and soon found its way into the scrap heap of the studio, to be reused for the chimneypiece sketch of a year or two later.
On same mat as 1966.11:70.