Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Design for a clock with the face incorporated into a pinecone

Giovanni Battista Piranesi
1720-1778

Design for a clock with the face incorporated into a pinecone

ca. 1765-1767
4 15/16 x 2 1/2 inches (120 x 64 mm)
Black chalk corrections over red and brown-red chalk, on paper.
1966.11:103

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

Notes
Preparatory for the clock found on the lefthand side of the pier table in plate 64 of Piranesi's "Diverse maniere d'adornare i cammini," 1769.
This and Morgan drawing inv. 1966.11:106 are preliminary sketches for a clock and sconces that appear in related plates of the Diverse maniere. In the publication, the clock is shown beside a timepiece made for Abbondio Rezzonico, while the sconces appear above a table made for Cardinal Giambattista Rezzonico. This suggests that Piranesi may have intended to produce actual objects corresponding to the drawings, although none is known to have been executed. Regardless, the sketches represent Piranesi's use of natural forms in design, which he stressed were complementary to forms derived from ancient art.
Inscriptions/Markings
Numbered at upper right, inverted, in graphite, "82".
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
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. 41, repr.
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Department