The Statens Museum for Kunst exhibits one of the 18th century’s finest engravers. His large print, packed with incredible details, offers much to admire.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi is probably not a name that rings many bells unless you are an art lover. Born in Venice in 1720 by a stonemason’s father and raised with the classics, he was later apprenticed to an uncle responsible for restoring historic buildings. His career quickly took off as his talents were quickly recognized. He was also a trained architect and archaeologist.
Although famous in his own time, his reputation has grown later, and he has had a recognizable influence on architects, artists, filmmakers, and even computer game developers.
France / Greece vs Italy / Rome
In Piranese’s time, there was an intense rivalry going on between French intellectuals and their Italian counterparts over which of the ancient civilizations was more ‘civilized’ and sophisticated: ancient Greece or ancient Rome. The French believed that the Romans had somehow corrupted a pure style and embellished it, while the Italians saw this as a sign of progress and a cultural highlight.
The ‘Imaginary Prison’ series has been interpreted by some art historians as a contribution to this argument, as in the second series there are some named individuals who are wrongfully executed or tortured by Nero’s tyrannical henchmen. The Italians claimed that Nero’s reign was decadent and tyrannical because he had abandoned ‘Lex Romana’ and introduced a new legal system based on ideas from Greece – perhaps a somewhat mysterious point, but worth keeping in mind when looking at the prints.
Piranesi also used the ruins of ancient Rome to advance his view, and among his most famous works are those depicting the Colosseum: The Forum and the Pyramid of Cestius. On the other hand, his images were not always entirely realistic; he played with perspectives, and for example, the pyramid is much larger than it really is. Piranesi often populated his images with figures, but they are usually very small and almost insignificant.
Stairs to heaven
In terms of contemporary relevance, anyone who has read or seen a Harry Potter movie will immediately be able to recognize the stairs that seem to go nowhere or are moving. The impossible constructions of the Dutch graphic artist Maurits Escher also have their roots in the ‘Imaginary Prisons’ series.
The first state of this consisted of 14 etchings and was published in 1750, untitled and unnumbered. Piranesi later reworked the records and added two prints along with numbers and titles to some of them. There is a big difference between the two states: the first is much lighter, while the second really exudes a dystopian doom and gloom.
This series has really made its name, and they were released in a so-called elephant format – a full 550 x 400 mm. They were originally bound in books and designed to be read that way. Later, many of the books were broken up to extract the prints. In many cases, any comment that came with them was discarded.
Cute little waiter?
As a trained architect, Piranesi was interested in design and Egyptian art and antiques. He made many drawings of ‘Egyptian’ chimney pieces, and some of these were made – often to sell to wealthy English visitors to Rome who passed through on the Grand Tour who wanted to take something back to decorate the stately home and show their good taste.
These chimney pieces were not based on a particular Egyptian original, but were created from a variety of sources with a good portion of flair and imagination.
It’s all done by mirrors
At the center of the exhibition is also a new installation created by AVPD (Aslak Vibรฆk and Peter Dรธssing) with two-way mirrors that form spaces and corridors “that create an architecture with an impossible perspective” – โโall very much in the spirit of Italian master.
With more than 120 works on display, you can really dive into Piranesi and have fun trying to decode some of these hidden meanings!
Source: The Nordic Page