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Giovanni Battista Piranesi

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Giovanni Battista Piranesi
1720-1778
Design for a Chimneypiece with a Bird, Satyr Head, and Volutes, with Separate Details of Ornament. Verso: Outline sketch of reclining winged figure in angle of pediment
ca. 1764-1767
Red chalk, pen and brown ink, over red chalk, on paper; extraneous drips of black ink along upper edge; verso: black chalk, pen and brown ink.
8 x 11 3/8 inches (204 x 289 mm)
Bequest of Junius S. Morgan and gift of Henry S. Morgan.
1966.11:64
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Notes: 

The wreath ornament drawn in red chalk at lower right relates this sketch to 1966.11:63.

Inscription: 

Inscribed at right, in pen and brown ink, "a miente [miemite?]"; on verso, repeated five times, "fortuna".
Watermark: Fleur-de-lis inside circle, fragment.

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.
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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. 64, repr.

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Artist page: 
Piranesi, Giovanni Battista
School: 
Italian
Century: 
18th century
Classification: 
Drawing
Department: 
Drawings and Prints