■■ \l£*. \ $ 
 
 CATAL 
 
 OF A 
 
 ELECTION OF ETCHINGS 
 
 BATTIST 
 
 PIRANESI 
 
 v. - ., :- 
 
 BELONGING TO THE 
 
 Drrtcs COLLECTION 
 
 ' 
 
 M p fee ' ,< - 
 *C^ : - >§3^V’ v 
 
 tiIPPfftS 
 
 ON EXHIBITION AT 
 
 MOUNT KISCO, NEW YORK 
 
 FROM OCTOBER, 1903, TO MARCH 
 
 1904 
 
CATALOGUE 
 
 OF A 
 
 SELECTION OF ETCHINGS 
 
 BY 
 
 GIOVANNI BATTISTA 
 PIRANESI 
 
 ? 
 
 BELONGING TO THE 
 
 CURTIS COLLECTION 
 
 ON EXHIBITION AT 
 
 MOUNT KISCO, NEW YORK 
 FROM OCTOBER, 1903, TO MARCH 
 1904 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Accounts differ as to the date and place of Piranesi's 
 birth. According to some, he was born in Rome in 1707, 
 while others state that he was born in 1721; but the date 
 most generally accepted is 1720, and the place of birth, 
 Venice. At all events, we know that he was born in the 
 early part of the eighteenth century and that he died on 
 November 9, 1778. 
 
 He was an architect by profession, but had he not 
 etched the remarkable series of plates by which he is now 
 known we should probably never have heard his name. 
 These plates, done for the most part on a very large scale, 
 were undertaken for the purpose of selling to the public 
 representations of the celebrated buildings and ruins of 
 Italy, chiefly in or near Rome, exactly as a photographer 
 would sell a series of photographic views to-day. The 
 prints were usually bound in sets, which necessitated the 
 folding of the larger ones, much to their injury in a great 
 many cases. The most important of these sets are the 
 “Vedute di Roma," “Antichita Romane," “Antichita 
 di Cora," “Antichita d'Albano e di Castel Gandolfo," the 
 views of the temples of Paestum, and the “Carcere 
 d'invenzione nuova," which last does not contain views of 
 actual buildings, but is a series of prisons drawn from 
 imagination. 
 
 Piranesi claims our attention from two points of view, 
 the archaeological and the artistic. Archaeologically his 
 works are of great interest, especially as many of the 
 buildings and ruins drawn by him have since disappeared 
 
 3 
 
or have undergone numerous changes, and his records 
 enable us to see some of the old Eoman remains as they 
 were a hundred and fifty years ago. 
 
 But interesting as is his work from the documentary 
 side, it is as an artist that he makes his greatest appeal 
 to us. With the single exception of Charles Mery on, no 
 one has ever etched architecture so artistically and at the 
 same time with so much feeling as Giovanni Battista 
 Piranesi. He put into his work an individual charm, the 
 outcome of his own poetic temperament, while preserving 
 a most faithful rendering of the building before him. In 
 common with Meryon, he gives us, as no other etcher has, 
 renderings of architecture which breathe the very spirit of 
 the buildings themselves, walls built up stone upon stone, 
 houses in which we feel three dimensions ; and while doing 
 this he goes farther still and, like Meryon, gives us a 
 subtle touch here and there, adding light and shade in a 
 fascinating manner, putting life into his work by little 
 figures which, though not wonders of drawing, serve 
 their purpose well; and thus, by a something added of 
 his own, he produces pictures which show us the build- 
 ings in their most charming aspect and make them 
 more real than they could be made by any one who 
 lacked his poetic feeling and artistic sense. Every 
 building has its own individuality. Its character is 
 portrayed with as much study and as much insight into 
 its nature as a great portrait painter would give to the 
 depicting of his model. Unlike some of the modern men 
 who have obtained reputations for their etching of archi- 
 tecture, Piranesi does not treat every piece of architecture 
 in the same manner, with the result that everything is 
 sacrificed to his particular mannerism and that an old 
 Eoman ruin has the same aspect as a Eenaissance build- 
 ing. His own personality is kept in his work; but he 
 knows how to combine his individuality with that of 
 the building he is etching, and even through his poetic 
 instincts to give more intensity to its character by show- 
 
 4 
 
ing us his feeling for its beauty or whatever of interest he 
 sees in it. 
 
 Piranesi was a master technician. His handling of 
 his plates from the technical side is remarkable. He 
 had a minute way of drawing details which one would 
 think ought to have produced results anything but broad 
 in character. And especially is this so when we consider 
 the great size of many of his finest plates and the small 
 instrument with which he had to work in covering so large 
 a surface. But broadness does not depend upon the few- 
 ness of lines with which a thing is expressed. It depends 
 upon the seeing of things as a whole and the keeping of 
 all the parts in proper relation to one another, and in 
 proper subordination to the general effect. This Piranesi 
 understood to perfection. Even in his largest plates he 
 knew exactly how to hold together the relationship of all 
 the parts. Every part is drawn with care, but with such 
 truth in its relation to every other part that the result is 
 a work perfect in harmony, and giving, as it should give, 
 a feeling of completeness which makes us lose sight of the 
 details in the contemplation of the whole. Not until we 
 have given attentive study to the details do we begin to 
 realize the beautiful way in which every portion of the 
 composition is handled. 
 
 In his “Prisons,” Piranesi touches a different note from 
 what we have in his other work. Here reality is not 
 sought, and a style of execution is developed differing en- 
 tirely from his usual manner. He works more freely, 
 though not in a larger way. The “Prisons” being crea- 
 tions of his imagination, he is at liberty to let himself 
 go to anything he pleases; and while the results are less 
 great than his work in other directions, the series is full 
 of fascination. It is composed of plates in most of 
 which we feel the imagination of an “Arabian Nights’ ” 
 story — interior views of gigantic structures, now piling 
 up in seemingly endless masses of masonry, arch above 
 arch, and wall above wall, until one’s brain is lost in the 
 
 5 
 
following of it all, now overpowering us with their tre- 
 mendously ponderous walls and arches made to resist 
 one knows not what human or superhuman attack. 
 
 Piranesi’s work is very unequal in artistic merit, and 
 the reason for this is obvious. He etched some thousand 
 plates in all; and out of these a large proportion were 
 subjects that had no artistic attraction for him whatever. 
 They were done because of the interest they would have 
 for the public, and, the artistic element being absent, they 
 do not appeal to us as works of art. That an artist should 
 etch hundreds of plates merely because the public de- 
 manded them, when he himself saw nothing in them from 
 the artistic side, would seem, at first, to be a debasing of 
 his art; but we must remember the two points of view 
 from which Piranesi’s work was done. To him the de- 
 picting of the buildings and ruins of his country was of 
 great importance even when the buildings were not artis- 
 tically interesting to him; and we should judge his work 
 from his standpoint. We should consider the majority of 
 his plates from the archaeological side, bearing in mind 
 that photography did not exist in his day, and be thankful 
 for the many wonderful plates in which he did have op- 
 portunities to reveal his artistic side with such results as 
 we see in him when he is at his best. 
 
 Atherton Curtis. 
 
 6 
 
CATALOGUE. 
 
 Views of Kome. (“Vedute di Roma.”) 
 
 Published in 1748. 
 
 1. The Piazza Navona. 
 
 The fountain in the centre and the one in the fore- 
 ground are by Bernini. At the left is the church of 
 S. Agnese. 
 
 2. Square of St. John Lateran. 
 
 In the centre are seen the Lateran Palace, now used 
 as a museum, and the south entrance of the church 
 of St. John Lateran, which is attached to the palace. 
 The octagonal building at the right is the baptis- 
 tery. 
 
 3. St. Peter's. 
 
 The cathedral was begun in 1506 and was consecrated 
 in 1626. Its cost up to the end of the seventeenth 
 century had amounted to about $50,000,000 in ac- 
 tual money; but, taking into account the difference 
 in the value of money then and now, its real cost 
 was four or five times this amount. The building 
 was designed originally by Bramante, but little re- 
 mains of his plans owing to the changes made by 
 the many architects who succeeded him. The dome 
 is the work of Michael Angelo, and the f agade is by 
 Carlo Maderna. The colonnades were erected by 
 Bernini in 1667. Over the right colonnade is seen 
 a part of the Vatican Palace. 
 
 4. Interior of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. 
 
 The interior dates from the time of Sixtus III, in the 
 
 fifth century. The ceiling was designed by Giu- 
 liano da Sangallo in the beginning of the sixteenth 
 century. 
 
 7 
 
5. The Island of the Tiber. (Isola Tiberina.) 
 
 6. The Wall of Tarquin and the Cloaca Maxima. 
 
 The Cloaca Maxima, the outlet of which is the near- 
 est arch in the wall at the water’s edge, was built 
 by Tarquinius Priscus, about 600 b.c., for the pur- 
 pose of draining the Forum and the surrounding 
 low ground. It still does good service. Above the 
 buildings in the foreground is seen the Round 
 Temple shown in No. 10. 
 
 7. The Colosseum. 
 
 Originally called the Amphitheatrum Flavium. Its 
 present name dates from the eighth century. The 
 building was completed by Titus in 80 a.d. Its 
 circumference is nearly one third of a mile and 
 it had seats for 87,000 spectators. 
 
 8. The Pantheon. 
 
 Built by Agrippa, son-in-law of Augustus, in 27 b.c. 
 It is the only ancient edifice in Rome which is 
 still in complete preservation with walls and roof. 
 The two bell-towers, constructed by Bernini in the 
 seventeenth century, were removed in 1883. 
 
 9. The Portico of the Pantheon. 
 
 10. Temple of Cybele. 
 
 The name here given is Piranesi’s, but the temple was 
 more probably dedicated to Hercules or to Mater 
 Matuta, goddess of dawn and of birth. It is now 
 often called “ Round Temple,” because of the un- 
 certainty of its ancient name. 
 
 11. Remains of the Forum of Nerva. 
 
 12. The Porta Maggiore. 
 
 The gateway was originally one. of the arches of the 
 aqueduct built by Claudius in 52 a.d. 
 
 13. The Ponte Salario. 
 
 The bridge was blown up during the invasion of 
 Garibaldi. 
 
 8 
 
14. Ruins of the Aqueduct of Nero. 
 
 15. Tomb of Cecilia Metella, on the Via Appia near 
 
 Rome. 
 
 Csecilia Metella was the daughter of Metellus Cre- 
 ticus and wife of the younger Crassus, son of the 
 triumvir. 
 
 16. Temple of Bacchus in the Environs of Rome. (Ex- 
 
 terior View.) 
 
 This old Roman tomb, which for many years was 
 thought to have been a temple of Bacchus, is now 
 the church of San Urbano. It was converted into 
 a church probably in the eleventh century. 
 
 17. The Same Temple. (Interior View.) 
 
 18. Villa of Maecenas at Tivoli. (Exterior View.) 
 
 This is a misnomer, though it is the name by which 
 
 it is still known. 
 
 19. The Same Villa. (Interior View.) 
 
 20. A Gallery in the Villa of Hadrian near Tivoli. 
 The villa, with its grounds, occupies an area of sev- 
 eral square miles. It was built by Hadrian toward 
 the end of his reign. He died in 138 a.d. Many 
 of the most valuable treasures of ancient art now 
 in the museums of Rome were found in the ruins of 
 this villa. 
 
 21. Temple of the Sibyl at Tivoli. 
 
 Thought by some authorities to have been a temple 
 of Vesta or of Hercules. 
 
 Roman Antiquities. (“Antichit a Romane.”) 
 
 Published in 1756. 
 
 22. The Forum of Nerva. 
 
 23. The Forum of Nerva, showing the Colonnacce. 
 In the “ Colonnacce ” are seen the remains of the 
 
 Temple of Minerva, which stood formerly at the 
 end of the Forum. 
 
 24. Ruins of the Temple of Jupiter Tonans. 
 
Antiquities (Antichita) of Albano and of Castel 
 Gandolfo. 
 
 Published in 1762. 
 
 25. Remains of Roman Baths in the Vineyard of the 
 
 Jesuits at Castel Gandolfo. 
 
 Antiquities of Cora. (“ Antichita di Cora.”) 
 
 Published in 1763. 
 
 26. Temple of Hercules. 
 
 27. Temple of Castor and Pollux. 
 
 The Temples of P^estum. 
 
 Published in 1778. 
 
 P 9 bs turn, near Naples, was founded by the Greeks 
 about 600 b.c., its ancient name being “Poseidonia.” 
 There are still standing the ruins of three temples 
 which are the finest examples of their kind to be 
 found outside of Athens. The Temple of Neptune, 
 which is earlier than the other two, is one of the 
 oldest existing specimens of Greek architecture. 
 
 28. View of the Three Temples. 
 
 In the foreground is the so-called Basilica; in the 
 distance is the Temple of Ceres, or, as some say, of 
 Vesta; and between the two is the Temple of Nep- 
 tune. 
 
 29. The Pronaos of the Temple of Neptune. 
 
 30. The Cella of the Temple of Neptune. 
 
 Prisons of New Device. (“ Carcere d’invenzione 
 nuova”) 
 
 Published in 1750. 
 
 31. Plate XIII. 
 
 32. Plate XIV. 
 
 33. Plate XV. 
 
 10