A Magnificent Palatial Interior

1748/1752

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Associated Names
Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Artist, Venetian, 1720 - 1778

The image shows intricate lines and shapes creating elaborate arches and architectural structures. The drawing has a swirling and overlapping design that suggests chaotic motion within a grand structure. The abstract assembly resembles a grand cathedral or a palatial hall, with arches and columns akin to classical architecture. Figures and decorative flourishes are interspersed throughout, resembling statues or ornate carvings typical of an embellished building.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pen and brown ink with brown wash with graphite over red chalk, touches of black chalk on laid paper, incised

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Gertrude Laughlin Chanler

  • Dimensions

    overall: 37.6 × 51.5 cm (14 13/16 × 20 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2000.9.20

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The Hon. Irwin Boyle Laughlin [1871-1941], Washington, D.C.; by inheritanc to his wife, Therese Iselin Laughlin [d. 1958], Washington, D.C.; by inheritance to their daughter, Gertrude Laughlin Chanler [d. 1999], New York; gift to NGA, 2000.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1978

  • Giovanni Battista Piranesi: the Early Architectural Fantasies, NGA, Washington, D.C., 1978: no. 28.

1982

  • Eighteenth Century Drawings from the Collection of Mrs. Gertrude Laughlin Chanler, NGA, Washington, D.C., 1982, no. 17.

1994

  • The Glory of Venice, Royal Academy of Arts, London, and National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994, 391, 484, no. 275 (repro. p. 391, color)(entry by Olimpia Theodoli).

2000

  • Art for the Nation:Collecting for a New Century, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2000-2001, 182, as Fantasy of a Palatial Interior.

  • Drawings and Prints from the Permanent Collection (Summer 2000), National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2000 (no catalogue).

2014

  • The Poetry of Light - La poesia della luce: Venetian Drawings from the National Gallery of Art, Museo Correr, Venice, Venice, 2014 - 2015, no. 90.

Bibliography

1954

  • Thomas, Hylton. The Drawings of Giovanni Battista Piranesi. London, 1954: 18-19, 45, no. 31.

1982

  • Eighteenth-Century Drawings from the Collection of Mrs. Gertrude Laughlin Chanler. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1982: 6, 46-47.

1986

  • Robison, Andrew. Piranesi: the Early Architectural Fantasies. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Etchings. Washington, D.C., 1986: 33-34.

1994

  • The Glory of Venice. Exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts, London; National Gallery of Art, Washington; Museo del Settecento Veneziano - Ca'Rezzonico, Venice; Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice, 1994-1995: 391, 484.

2000

  • "A selection of 2000 museum acquisitions," Apollo, December 2000, reprod. p. 21.

  • Robison, Andrew. "Gifts and Acquisitions: Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Fantastic Monument in a Palatial Interior." National Gallery of Art Bulletin 24 (Fall 2000): 9.

  • Art for the Nation: Collecting for a New Century. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2000: 182-183.

Wikidata ID

Q64572351

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