The Arch with a Shell Ornament

published 1800/1809

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Associated Names
Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Artist, Venetian, 1720 - 1778

This is a drawing of an intricate and architectural fantasy interior. The composition displays a surreal setting filled with an elaborate network of staircases, arches, and beams that interconnect in a labyrinthine manner. Massive stone arches and vaults dominate the space. The dim lighting casts dramatic shadows. Various architectural elements, like ropes and ladders, contribute to the complexity of the scene.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching, engraving, sulphur tint or open bite, drypoint

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.6996

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Robison 1986, no. 37, State vi/vii

Artwork history & notes

Exhibition History

1934

  • Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Pennsylvania Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, 1934.

1961

  • Piranesi Prints, Andrew Dickson White Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1961.

Bibliography

1918

  • Focillon 34.

1922

  • Hind 11.

1986

  • Robison, Andrew. Piranesi Early Architectural Fantasies: A Catalogue Raisonne of the Etchings. Washington: National Gallery of Art; Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1986.

Wikidata ID

Q65020196

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