Chimneypiece: Architrave decorated with a Greek key motif and a circular fireback with figures of the zodiac (Ch. décorée d'une grecque), from Diverse Maniere d'adornare i cammini ed ogni altra parte degli edifizi...(Different Ways of ornamenting chimneypieces and all other parts of houses)
Giovanni Battista Piranesi Italian
Not on view
Although Giovanni Battista Piranesi is best known for his capricious, often ruinous landscape compositions, architecture and interior design formed an important part of his theoretic and artistic life’s work. In 1769 he published his print series ‘Diverse Maniere (…)’ in which he presented designs for chimneypieces and other parts of the interior executed in Egyptian, Etruscan, Greek and Tuscan Style. The 67 etched plates in this series are preceded by an apologia by the artist in which he describes his views on contemporary design. The prints of chimneypieces play a crucial role in his argument. Because they did not exist in this form in Antiquity, to Piranesi they perfectly illustrated how the Antique could be adapted to fit the needs of modern society. The imaginative compositions in Piranesi’s print series did not just represent capricious ideas however, but in some cases show works which were executed in Roman palaces and public buildings during the 1760s.
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