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. 1742

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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142431v_0002.jpg

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 his "Entwurff einer historischen Architectur," Vienna, 1721. The garden on the verso is also taken from that work and reflects Fischer's project for Schonbrun Palace.
For further studies after Fischer, see 1966.11:18.

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