Giovanni Battista Piranesi
1720-1778
Sketch for the altar of Santa Maria del Priorato
4 5/8 x 4 9/16 inches (118 x 117 mm)
Pen and brown ink on laid paper.
1952.26
Purchase.
Notes
Watermark: None.
This is likely Piranesis first sketch for the sculptural high altar of the church, although it already includes most elements of the final design: a sarcophagus as the base and table of the altar, an elaborate superstructure with a medallion (on which a Madonna and Child would be carved), and a depiction of the Apotheosis of St. Basil (the namesake of the order's original church in the Forum of Augustus). The elaborate candelabras flanking the altar call to mind those that Piranesi would later design--both for his own funeral monument and as decorative objects sold to British Grand Tourists--but they were eliminated in the final scheme. Morgan drawing 1966.11:51 is also related to the altar, as is a sheet in the Berlin Kunstbibliothek, HdZ6331,
This is likely Piranesis first sketch for the sculptural high altar of the church, although it already includes most elements of the final design: a sarcophagus as the base and table of the altar, an elaborate superstructure with a medallion (on which a Madonna and Child would be carved), and a depiction of the Apotheosis of St. Basil (the namesake of the order's original church in the Forum of Augustus). The elaborate candelabras flanking the altar call to mind those that Piranesi would later design--both for his own funeral monument and as decorative objects sold to British Grand Tourists--but they were eliminated in the final scheme. Morgan drawing 1966.11:51 is also related to the altar, as is a sheet in the Berlin Kunstbibliothek, HdZ6331,
Associated names
Schatzki, Walter, 1899-1983, former owner.
Bibliography
Adams, Frederick B., Jr. Fourth Annual Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1953, p. 65.
Pierpont Morgan Library. Review of Acquisitions, 1949-1968. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1969, p. 160.
Stampfle, Felice. Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Dover, 1978, no. A-5, repr.
Pierpont Morgan Library. Review of Acquisitions, 1949-1968. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1969, p. 160.
Stampfle, Felice. Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Dover, 1978, no. A-5, repr.
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Catalog link
Department