Giovanni Battista Piranesi

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Giovanni Battista Piranesi
1720-1778
Design for a Chimneypiece with Figures of Standing Victories above the Lintel
ca. 1764-1769
Pen and brown ink on paper.
6 1/4 x 5 7/8 inches (159 x 150 mm)
Bequest of Junius S. Morgan and gift of Henry S. Morgan.
1966.11:78

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Notes: 

Drawing is on verso of a fragment of a letter, in pen and brown ink. Although not in Piranesi's hand, the letter regards the copper plates by Nicholas Dorigny that Piranesi acquired from Paris in 1763 and refers to a potential lawsuit against the banker Barazzi and his agents in Paris. See Stampfle catalogue cited below for full transcription.
On same mat as 1966.11:79.

Inscription: 

Numbered at lower left, in graphite, "203(?)"
Watermark: Anchor in circle, surmounted by six-pointed star, centered on chain line.

Provenance: 
Mrs. J. P. Morgan, New York; by descent to her sons Junius S. Morgan, Princeton and Paris (no mark, see Lugt 1536) and Henry S. Morgan, New York.
Watermark: 
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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.

Bibliography: 

Stampfle, Felice. Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Dover, 1978, no. 78, repr.

Catalog link: 
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Artist page: 
Piranesi, Giovanni Battista
Classification: 
Drawing
Department: 
Drawings and Prints