• Della Magnificenza ed architettura de’ Romani. Rome, 1761 and Tailpiece to the “Della introduzione e del progresso delle belle arti in Europa ne’ tempi antichi,” printed with the Osservazioni di Gio. Battista Piranesi sopra la Lettre de M. Mariette aux auteurs de la Gazette littéraire de l’Europe. Rome: Per Generoso Salomoni, 1765

Curatorial Notes:
  • These two vignettes feature iconic sculptures associated with Rome’s origins. Piranesi designed them to illustrate his sprawling essay that extolls the city’s ancient architecture. He would have seen both sculptures displayed among the collections installed on the Capitoline Hill. On the left, the twins Romulus and Remus suckle at the she-wolf; they will go on to found the city of Rome. During Piranesi’s day, the bust on the right was thought to depict Lucius Junius Brutus (d. 509 BCE), one of the first consuls of the republic who had overthrown the city’s last king. In these side-by-side vignettes, Piranesi juxtaposes myth and history as evoked by art.
Additional notes:
  • Piranesi fought in an international controversy about cultural superiority: Roman versus Greek. When the print connoisseur Pierre-Jean Mariette criticized his position, Piranesi responded with a book that combined an essay, a spirited dialogue, and a set of prints. The book is a model of page design. The vignettes Piranesi designed for the texts underpin his argument in favor of the diversity of artistic forms over strict rules. Small prints like this tailpiece feature various types of material evidence, underscoring Piranesi’s assertion that his own experience as an artist made him a better judge of quality than his critic.
Date:
  • 1761
Format:
  • Book
Extent:
  • ccxii p. XXXVIII plates (part double, part fold.) 56 cm.
Creator:
Publisher:
  • Romae, 1761.
Language:
  • Latin
  • Italian
Subject:
  • Rome (Italy)—Antiquities
  • Architecture—Rome
  • Decoration and ornament, Architectural—Italy
Author:
  • Piranesi, Giovanni Battista, 1720-1778
Provenance:
  • Ex copy: Sometime in the 1970s, the present copy replaced the copy marked with accession number '62771' (the copy listed in the 1884 catalogue).
References:
  • F. Vinton, Subject-catalogue of the Library of College of New Jersey, (1884), p. 622, col. 1, shelf mark "Cabinet 3.22.1"
Description:
  • Added title-page in Italian: Della magnificenza ed architettvra de Romani.
  • In Ex copy, 'Catalogo delle Opere' (ca. 1761), leaf at end. State IV, per A. Robison (July, 2009)
Credit line:
  • Rare Books, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library and Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University Library
View in catalog:
Identifier:
  • ark:/88435/z603r694r