Giovanni Battista Piranesi

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1720-1778

Sheet of Sketches Showing Temples, Tombs, Sarcophagi, Ground Plans, Vases, and a Circus. Verso: Layout of a Formal Garden

ca. 1740-50

Pen and brown ink on paper; verso: pen and brown ink; ruled lines in black chalk.

16 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches (419 x 285 mm)

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

1966.11:17

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Inscription:

Inscribed throughout identifying names of monuments, in pen and brown ink; see entry below for inscriptions.
Watermark: Fleur-de-lis inside double circle, with letter "V", below circle.

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. 23, repr.
Stampfle, Felice. Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Dover, 1978, no. 17, 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.

Watermark:

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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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Artist page:

Piranesi, Giovanni Battista

Classification:

Drawing

Department:

Drawings and Prints