January 20-April 21

The Skeletons from the Grotteschi, 1750

"Chinese Decorative Design (Chinoierie), 1736

Design for a Paneled Wall (Boiserie)

"She took one of her serpents..."
in Le Temple de Gnide, 1772

 

GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIRANESI
Italian, 1720 - 1778
The Skeletons from the Grotteschi
etching and drypoint, 1750
Ackland Fund, 76.31.1

The Grotteschi is a set of four prints whose style and iconography join Piranesi’s imagination with the classicism of ancient Rome. The image takes us within the ancient ruins on an adventure to find forms long gone, now partially covered with shrubbery. We are on a visual excavation to uncover the hidden objects beneath. As we gaze across the image we see parts of statuary, satyrs, bones, vases and signs of the zodiac.

The revival of ancient Rome was a theme that fascinated Piranesi. One motif in ancient Roman decoration was the grotesque. Many of the images delineated in this scene are what we would call grotesques, for example the satyr in the mid left of the picture. Piranesi’s use of ancient Roman motifs educates and gives new life to an area that so intrigued him. Through Piranesi the classisicm of ancient Rome is reborn.