View of the Grand Cascade at Tivoli, from Views of Rome
<p>Giovanni Battista Piranesi had supplied decades of tourists with his massive, masterly etchings of architectural monuments in Rome and its environs by the time he completed his <em>Views of Rome</em> series in the late 1770s. The waterfall pictured here, in the ancient town of Tivoli, was a natural wonder, and the 16th-century Villa d’Este nearby channeled the same waterpower into a flamboyantly artificial series of fountains, automata (mechanical toys moved by water), and strategic cascades. Both were must-sees for Europeans on their Grand Tours.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1766
- Dimensions
- Image: 47.1 × 70.2 cm (18 9/16 × 27 11/16 in.); Sheet: 50.5 × 72 cm (19 15/16 × 28 3/8 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
Artist
Painting
Giovanni Battista Piranesi was an Italian classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric "prisons". He was the father of Francesco Piranesi, Laura Piranesi and Pietro Piranesi.
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More by Giovanni Battista Piranesi
The Arch with a Shell Ornament
1800 · etching, engraving, sulphur tint or open bite, drypoint
Prisoners on a Projecting Platform
1800 · etching, engraving, sulphur tint or open bite, burnishing
The Gothic Arch
1800 · etching, engraving, sulphur tint or open bite, burnishing
The Smoking Fire
1800 · etching, engraving, sulphur tint or open bite, burnishing
The Pier with a Lamp
1780 · etching, engraving, sulphur tint or open bite, burnishing [date should be read as "published 1780s"]
The Drawbridge
1780 · etching, engraving, scratching [date should be read as "published 1780s"]
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Year
- 1766
- Dimensions
- Image: 47.1 × 70.2 cm (18 9/16 × 27 11/16 in.); Sheet: 50.5 × 72 cm (19 15/16 × 28 3/8 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1766-013318
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified