![]() ![]() The immensity and ambiguity of these structures reinforces the sense of wonderment that inspired generations of artists, writers, and others to reassess the majesty and grandeur of classical design. Photo credit: Joakim Züger / BARSK Projects, 2021. AVPD / Aslak Vibæk og Peter Døsssing, Stalker X, 2021. ![]() Plate from Imaginary Prisons (later state), after 1761. Plate from Part One of Architecture and Perspectives, 1743-44. Populated with indistinguishable figures that emphasize the scale and complexity of the scenes, the final series features greater detail and stronger tonal contrasts, enhancing the works’ sinister character. Plate from Imaginary Prisons, after 1761. The breathtaking originality of Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s dramatic series of etchings, the Imaginary Prisons (Carceri d’invenzione), has remained a source of inspiration and fascination for artists, writers and architects since they were first published in Rome in the mid-eighteenth century. These etchings were issued as a collection of fourteen around 1749–50 and then reissued-after significant reworking-as a set of sixteen in 1761. The artist employed the same strategy-representing realistic settings imbued with an innovative creative spirit-in several other works. Chief among them is his highly unusual series of prints called Imaginary Prisons. Piranesi’s oeuvre reflects a singular combination of remarkable imagination and a deep understanding of construction, which helped to cultivate an unprecedented appreciation of Roman architecture. In ‘Piranesi,’ We Are All Willing Prisoners of Our Own Imagination Susanna Clarke’s first novel since her 2004 debut, ‘Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell,’ is based on the idea of becoming trapped. He derived the principal inspiration for this vast production of etchings from firsthand examinations of classical antiquities as well as from Renaissance and Baroque structures. The artist infused both conventional topographical scenes of wellknown buildings and ideal reconstructions with novel compositional devices, exaggerating scale and manipulating perspective through the use of multiple vanishing points. ![]() Throughout his career, Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–1778) produced carefully prepared views in and around Rome. Title: The Pier with Chains, from 'Carceri dinvenzione' (Imaginary Prisons) Series/Portfolio: Carceri dinvenzione. ![]()
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