PIRANESI Giovanni Battista (1720 - 1778), Veduta interna della Basilica di S. Pietro in Vaticano.

Veduta interna della Basilica di S. Pietro in Vaticano.

Etching. Signed on the plate p.d.: "Piranesi fecit" Graphic from the series "Vedute di Roma". 1748. Plate imprint: 38.8 x 59.5 cm
View of the interior of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. In the lower right corner: "Preso l'Autore a Strada Felice nel Palazzo Tomati vicino alle Trinita do monti A Paoli due e mezzo" Graphic cut to the margins. Very good, dark and even print with strong contrasts. Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (1720 - 1778), Italian printmaker and architect. He studied in Venice, from where he traveled to Naples, Herculaneum and Pompeii for study. From 1745 he was active in Rome. Piranesi's most important field of activity was the study of architecture and ancient art (especially of Rome), supported by numerous travels, archaeological research, measurements and drawings, which resulted in a very large number (more than 2,000) of graphic works (etchings, copper engravings), depicting mainly views of ancient buildings, archaeological finds.