Piranesi. The Complete Etchings

Luigi Ficacci

$158.95

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Taschen
22 November 2022

Art & Architecture; History of art & design styles: c 1600 to c 1800; Prints & printmaking; Individual artists, art monographs

The most famous 18th-century copper engraver, Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778) made his name with etchings of ancient Rome. His startling, chiaroscuro images imbued the city's archaeological ruins with drama and romance and became favorite souvenirs for the Grand Tourists who traveled Italy in pursuit of classical culture and education.

Today, Piranesi is renowned not just for shaping the European imagination of Rome, but also for his elaborate series of fanciful prisons, Carceri, which have influenced generations of creatives since, from the Surrealists to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Edgar Allan Poe, Jorge Luis Borges, and Franz Kafka.

Loosely based on contemporary stage sets rather than the actual dingy dungeons of Piranesi's day, these intricate images defy architectural reality to play instead with perspective, lighting, and scale. Staircases exist on two planes simultaneously; vast, vaulted ceilings seem to soar up to the heavens; interior and exterior distinctions collapse. With a low viewpoint and small, fragile figures, the prison scenes become monstrous megacities of incarceration, celebrated to this day as masterworks of existentialist drama.

By: Luigi Ficacci
Imprint: Taschen
Country of Publication: Germany
Edition: Multilingual edition
Dimensions: Height: 340mm, Width: 250mm,
Weight: 3.795kg
ISBN: 9783836587617
ISBN 10: 3836587610
Pages: 788
Publication Date: 22 November 2022
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Luigi Ficacci studied art history in Rome under Giulio Carlo Argan. For many years, he was curator at the Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica in Rome and lectured at various Italian universities. From 2007 to 2015, he was Bologna’s general museum director (Soprintendente ai Beni Culturali); today he is general museum director in Lucca. The focal points of his research work are the issues raised by 17th and 18th century and contemporary Italian and European art.

Reviews for Piranesi. The Complete Etchings

The Eternal City has never looked as poetic as in the hand of Giovanni Battista Piranesi, the greatest printmaker of the 18th century. This new oversize coffee table book unites all his etchings of Rome's crumbling monuments and fantastical gardens. * The New York Times *