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The Skeletons by Giovanni Battista Piranesi — VisualArtsDB

The Skeletons

The Skeletons

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

1750

Medium: Etching on heavy ivory laid paper
Dimensions: Image: 38.9 × 54.2 cm (15 3/8 × 21 3/8 in.); Plate: 39.3 × 54.7 cm (15 1/2 × 21 9/16 in.); Sheet: 59 × 80.7 cm (23 1/4 × 31 13/16 in.)
Genre: etching
Museum: Art Institute of Chicago

Tags

printprints and drawingetchingpaper (fiber product)

About

This print is one of four grotesques (decorative fantasies) included in Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s popular series of architectural views of Rome and its surroundings. This kind of composition was inspired by Roman wall decorations discovered during the Renaissance and was meant to incorporate dissimilar elements in a whimsical and ornamental manner. This particular etching includes, among other things, a back view of the often-copied Farnese Hercules, a large zodiac wheel partly visible at the upper right, and various fragmentary skeletons adorned with tufts of wavy hair.

More by Giovanni Battista Piranesi

The Round Tower, plate 3 from Imaginary Prisons

The Round Tower, plate 3 from Imaginary Prisons

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 1750

Trajan's Column, from Views of Rome

Trajan's Column, from Views of Rome

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 1750

View of Piazza Navona above the ruins of the Circus of Domitian, from Views of Rome

View of Piazza Navona above the ruins of the Circus of Domitian, from Views of Rome

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 1750

Rear view of the remains of the pronaos of the Temple of Neptune, drawn in the two preceding plates, from Different views of Paestum

Rear view of the remains of the pronaos of the Temple of Neptune, drawn in the two preceding plates, from Different views of Paestum

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 1778

View of the palace of the illustrious Barberini family on the Quirinal Hill, designed by Cavaliere Bernini, from Views of Rome

View of the palace of the illustrious Barberini family on the Quirinal Hill, designed by Cavaliere Bernini, from Views of Rome

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 1750

Three Column Capitals

Three Column Capitals

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 1740

View of the Villa d'Este, Tivoli, from Views of Rome

View of the Villa d'Este, Tivoli, from Views of Rome

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 1773

Arch of Septimius Severus. 1. Temple of Concord. 2. Ascent to the Capitoline Hill, plate 13 from Some Views of Triumphal Arches and other Monuments

Arch of Septimius Severus. 1. Temple of Concord. 2. Ascent to the Capitoline Hill, plate 13 from Some Views of Triumphal Arches and other Monuments

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 1748

View of the Basilica of San Sebastiano fuori delle mura [St. Sebastian outside the Walls] on the Appian Way, from Views of Rome

View of the Basilica of San Sebastiano fuori delle mura [St. Sebastian outside the Walls] on the Appian Way, from Views of Rome

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 1750

View of the Remains of the Forum of Nerva, from Views of Rome

View of the Remains of the Forum of Nerva, from Views of Rome

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 1757

Interior view of the Basilica of S. Maria Maggiore, from Views of Rome

Interior view of the Basilica of S. Maria Maggiore, from Views of Rome

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 1768

Interior view of the Pantheon, from Views of Rome

Interior view of the Pantheon, from Views of Rome

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 1768