Anticipating revolution : the artistic genius of Piranesi

Abstract

Undoubtedly, the exceptional and visionary figure of the Venetian Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778) – etcher, engraver, architect, designer, archaeologist, antiquarian, theorist, restorer and dealer – stands tall within the development of European art history. A formidable artistic presence in eighteenth-century Italy, he was one of the most widely influential artists during an era consciously seeking the regeneration of art, ultimately leading to the rejection of the Rococo. The second half of the eighteenth century – the time of Piranesi’s maturity and its aftermath – is synonymous with one of the most remarkable periods in the development of European artistic history. The Neoclassical age produced some of the most revolutionary and ground-breaking works in art and architecture. Piranesi played an indispensable role in the metamorphosis of artistic thought and cultural taste, at a time when society was undergoing a deep existential change on a scientific, political, and social level. [excerpt]