Workshop of Giovanni Battista Piranesi

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Workshop of Giovanni Battista Piranesi
1720-1778
Design for a Bookplate for a Cardinal of the Albani Family
ca. 1750-1775
Pen and brown ink, with gray and brown wash, over traces of graphite, on paper.
4 11/16 x 3 3/4 inches (121 x 96 mm)
Bequest of Junius S. Morgan and gift of Henry S. Morgan.
1966.11:126

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Notes: 

The coat of arms, probably not drawn by Piranesi himself, is likely that of Alessandro Albani (1692-1779), who built the Villa Albani, or possibly Gian Francesco Albani (1720-1803).
On same mat as 1966.11:127.

Inscription: 

Numbered at lower right, in graphite, "54".

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.
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. 126, repr.

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