The Skeletons

published 1750/1759

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Associated Names
Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Artist, Venetian, 1720 - 1778

The image shows a group of curving and jagged lines that intersect, creating an abstract composition resembling a craggy landscape. Among the forms are elements reminiscent of natural scenes like trees and rocks. Some shapes resemble water, foliage, and figures. The lines convey motion and texture, suggesting natural forces at play in the depiction.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching, engraving, drypoint, burnishing

  • Credit Line

    Andrew W. Mellon Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall: 38.9 x 54.6 cm (15 5/16 x 21 1/2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1978.49.1

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Robison 1986, no. 21, State ii/v

  • Series Title

    Grotteschi (Second Edition, First Issue)

Artwork history & notes

Exhibition History

2000

  • Art in Rome in the Eighteenth Century, Philadelphia Museum of Art and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2000, no. 411, repro.

2004

  • The Unfinished Print, The Frick Collection, New York, 2004.

Bibliography

1918

  • Focillon 20.

1922

  • Hind p.80, no.24.

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.

1999

  • Dixon, Susan M. "Piranesi and Francesco Bianchini." Art History 22 (June 1999): 184-213.

Wikidata ID

Q65568949

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