93 - Francesco Piranesi, “Artificial Firework Known as the Girandola Igniting Above Castel Sant’Angelo, Formerly the Mausoleum of Hadrian.” 1790–1793. Etching and engraving, red ink. 768 x 513 mm. Sheet size: 820 x 600 mm. At the center of the lower margin is the title, and from left to right: “Desprez disegnò / Fran. Piranesi inc.” Based on a design by Louis-Jean Desprez (Auxerre, 1743 – Stockholm, 1804), a French architect and set designer who won the Prix de Rome in 1777. Following this scholarship—which allowed young artists to live and work at the French Academy in Rome for a year or more—Desprez never returned to France. In the 1780s, he traveled to Pompeii and other locations in southern Italy. One of the compositions he created after his return to Rome was this scene of the so-called “Girandola,” the fireworks display held at Castel Sant’Angelo every year on June 28—the eve of the feast of Saints Peter and Paul—with the crowd watching from below. A beautiful print, fully inked and with sharp detail, on fine-grained paper bearing a “dove with outspread wings” watermark. This copy is in its final state: the first state consisted of a simple outline drawing, engraved by Piranesi as a base to be colored in watercolor for Desprez’s own use. After Desprez’s departure from Italy, Piranesi reworked the plate so that it could be printed without the need for coloring; the red used in the print for the flames represents a later addition compared to the original intention.

Francesco Piranesi, “Artificial Firework Known as the Girandola Igniting Above Castel Sant’Angelo, Formerly the Mausoleum of Hadrian.” 1790–1793. Etching and engraving, red ink. 768 x 513 mm. Sheet size: 820 x 600 mm. At the center of the lower margin is the title, and from left to right: “Desprez disegnò / Fran. Piranesi inc.” Based on a design by Louis-Jean Desprez (Auxerre, 1743 – Stockholm, 1804), a French architect and set designer who won the Prix de Rome in 1777. Following this scholarship—which allowed young artists to live and work at the French Academy in Rome for a year or more—Desprez never returned to France. In the 1780s, he traveled to Pompeii and other locations in southern Italy. One of the compositions he created after his return to Rome was this scene of the so-called “Girandola,” the fireworks display held at Castel Sant’Angelo every year on June 28—the eve of the feast of Saints Peter and Paul—with the crowd watching from below. A beautiful print, fully inked and with sharp detail, on fine-grained paper bearing a “dove with outspread wings” watermark. This copy is in its final state: the first state consisted of a simple outline drawing, engraved by Piranesi as a base to be colored in watercolor for Desprez’s own use. After Desprez’s departure from Italy, Piranesi reworked the plate so that it could be printed without the need for coloring; the red used in the print for the flames represents a later addition compared to the original intention. (1) Sheet intact with original margins. Horizontal fold in the center, open on one side for a short distance and with paper residue on the reverse. Very slight, diffuse browning.