Giovanni Battista Piranesi

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1720-1778

Sheet of Sketches for a Palace Courtyard with Equestrian Statue and Fountain, a Floorplan, and Vases. Verso: perspective view of a villa and garden showing colonnade above, entrance with fountains, and a row of poplars

ca. 1740-50

Pen and brown ink on paper; verso: black chalk with details in pen and brown ink.

16 5/16 x 11 1/16 inches (415 x 282 mm)

Bequest of Junius S. Morgan and gift of Henry S. Morgan.

1966.11:18

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Inscription:

Inscribed in upper portion identifying elements of courtyard, in pen and brown ink, "cochio tirato da cavali / trofei E fama che incorona // trofei // trofei // cochio // due cavali / tenuti da un / soldato / sopra // s[ta]tua del / imperatore // arco."

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.

Bibliography:

Denison, Cara, Myra Nan Rosenfeld, and Stephanie Wiles. Exploring Rome : Piranesi and His Contemporaries. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library; Montréal : Centre Canadien d'Architecture, 1993, no. 24, repr.
Stampfle, Felice. Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Dover, 1978, no. 18, repr.

Notes:

Sketches are after plates of reconstructions of ancient Roman monuments by Austrian architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach (1656-1723) published in "Entwurff einer historischen Architectur," Vienna, 1721.

Associated names:

Fischer von Erlach, Johann Bernhard, 1656-1723, after.
Morgan, Jane Norton, 1868-1925, former owner.
Morgan, Junius Spencer, 1892-1960, former owner.
Morgan, Henry S. (Henry Sturgis), 1900-1982, former owner.

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Piranesi, Giovanni Battista

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