Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Veduta della vasta Fontana di Trevi anticamente detta l'Acqua Vergine, from Vedute di Roma (F. 797; H. 19; W./E. 145), 1751
Etching printed on laid paper with double ring fleur-de-lis watermark (R. 36), state III (of VII), with full margins, in good condition aside from 1 x 1 in. brown stain in left center image area, surface soiling, specks of foxing, glue remains along center crease, verso.
Piranesi is best known for his visions of Rome which are portrayed in his series Vedute di Roma that he began in 1748 and continued to work on for the remainder of his life. Giovanni Battista Piranesi, who had been taught the art of etching by Giuseppe Vasi, transformed the conventional views as practiced by his master and altered them into his own view of heroic antiquity. Having been trained as an architect and as a result of his interest in archaeology he was in a unique position to portray Roman classicism to his contemporaries.
15 5/8 x 21 1/2 in.
sheet 21 3/4 x 30 1/4 in.
