The Triumphal Arch

published 1750/1759

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Associated Names
Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Artist, Venetian, 1720 - 1778

The image shows a scene with a sculpted bust on the left, architectural ruins and arches in the background, and a figure holding foliage in the mid-ground. The color palette is monochrome, mainly black, white, and gray. The bust is on a pedestal on the left with tall plumes and floral decorations. A figure stands in the middle with the arch framing the scene. The foreground has broken sculptures and organic materials like leaves and flowers scattered intricately.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching, engraving, drypoint, burnishing

  • Credit Line

    Andrew W. Mellon Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall: 38.8 x 54.1 cm (15 1/4 x 21 5/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1978.49.2

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Robison 1986, no. 22, State i/v

  • Series Title

    Grotteschi (Second Edition, First Issue)

Artwork history & notes

Bibliography

1918

  • Focillon 21.

1922

  • Hind p.80, no.25.

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

Q65568950

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