Workshop of Giovanni Battista Piranesi

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1720-1778

Study of a Roman Altar.

ca. 1765-1775

Black and red chalk on paper.

7 x 5 3/4 inches (179 x 145 mm)

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

1966.11:37

Notes:

This is a depiction by a member of Piranesi's workshop of the Roman Altar with Selene (Luna), the Dioscuri, Phosphoros (the Morning Star), and Hesperos (the Evening Star) now in the Louvre, inv. Ma508, but in Piranesi's time at the Villa Borghese. For another study of the same object, see Bernardino Ciferri's drawing at the British Museum, inv. 2103,5015.2.80. The work also appears as plate 21 of Winckelmann's "Monumenti Antichi Inediti" of 1767.

Inscription:

Numbered at lower center, in graphite, "101 (?)".

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. 37, repr.

Catalog link:

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Artist page:

Piranesi, Giovanni Battista

School:

Italian

Century:

18th century

Department:

Drawings and Prints