3758 - Francesco Piranesi, The Colosseum in Rome

Francesco Piranesi, The Colosseum in Rome Depiction of the ruined, imposing building with figures in the foreground; in the lower section, the title ‘Veduta dell’Anfiteatro Flavio, detto il Colosseo’ and a caption explaining the scene; etching in dark brown, late 18th century (later print), inscribed ‘Piranesi F.’ in the bottom right-hand corner of the plate, round dry stamp in the margin of the paper, signs of wear, framed behind glass, plate dimensions approx. 45 x 70.5 cm. Artist’s biography: Italian engraver, publisher and architect (1756 or 1758, Rome - 1810, Paris), son and pupil of the archaeologist, architect and copperplate engraver Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778); also studied architecture under Benedikt Mori and Pierre Adrien Pâris; studied painting under Domenico Corvi; studied landscape painting under the brothers Carl, Johann Gottlieb, Georg and Philipp Hackert; received instruction in copperplate engraving from Cunego and Volpato; following his father’s death in 1778, he took over his father’s copperplate engraving workshop, in 1783 was appointed Royal Art Agent by King Gustav III of Sweden and sold his father’s collection of antiquities to the king; in 1785 produced the first commercially available plan of Pompeii, which had by then been partially excavated, in 1793, Swedish envoy to Rome; a supporter of the republican movement and, together with his brother Pietro P., organised the National Guard (serving as its commander for a time); in early 1798, minister in Paris, In November 1798, he returned to Rome; following several lost battles as commander of the National Guard, he fled by ship in 1799, which was captured by the British, and was subsequently freed by Napoleon; with Napoleon’s support, he established a publishing house and copperplate engraving workshop in Paris, from 1807, founded a terracotta factory near Pailly; source: Thieme-Becker and the internet.