Indeed, Piranesi went against the common practice of making highly-detailed drawings for transfer onto copperplates (the method of engraving), remarking that, “if my drawing was finished, my plate would become only a copy.” While some are preparatory studies that were later worked up as engravings, most of the sketches are not directly relatable to known finished pieces. The majority of the drawings are architectural scenes. We see the influence that Piranesi’s training as a set designer for the theatre in Venice had on his approach to perspective vistas, and the subsequent transformative impact that his move to Rome had on the subject matter of his work. On display are examples which span Piranesi’s working life from the 1740s to 1770s. While the most recognizable of Piranesi’s works are the evocative prints of Roman ruins in 18th century landscapes and the haunting etchings of grotesque prisons, the British Museum exhibition instead focuses on 51 ink and chalk drawings in its collection, highlighting his expertise as a draftsman. This year is the 300th anniversary of Piranesi’s birth and to mark the occasion the British Museum in London is holding an exhibition, Piranesi Drawings: Visions of Antiquity. But not all architects can build, and Piranesi’s brilliance was on paper. The façade is overloaded with decorative details that break the grace of the architecture and confuse the eye. This building, the Church of Santa Maria del Priorato on the Aventine Hill in Rome, the monastery of the Knights of Malta, is not a masterpiece. Although he consistently signed his work ‘architetto,’ he is famous for his engravings of the monuments of ancient Rome, and in fact constructed only one building in his entire career. The fascinating artistic work and turbulent life of the restless Francesco Piranesi is still unjustly overshadowed by his father.Giovanni Battista Piranesi was the greatest printmaker of the 18th century. It is worth rediscovering! © Meisterdrucke. The fascinating artistic work and turbulent life of the restless Francesco Piranesi is still unjustly overshadowed by his father. His extensive graphic work came into papal custody a few years later. But this did not come to pass: Piranesi died in 1810 at the age of only 53 years, according to rumours, of syphilis. The condition was that he should now devote himself entirely to printmaking. With Napoleon's help, he was able to save his business after his brother bailed out. There they were able to acquire not only engravings, but also terracotta vases, imitations of antique Etruscan pieces, which even pleased the Napoleonic imperial family. After their fall, he went to Paris and opened a branch of his company there with his brother Pietro, which they called "Piranesi Frères". When the French revolutionary troops occupied Italy, he won the trust of the French and became one of the representatives of the short-lived Roman Republic. He stole compromising letters from the Swedish ambassador to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies on behalf of the Swedish regent, which led to his death sentence. While still with his father, he travelled to Pompeii and Paestum, and after his death he continued the graphic work, which is still of great importance today. Francesco Piranesi published the first plan of the excavated city. He meticulously recorded the Diocletian Baths in etchings, but also views of the rediscovered and excavated Pompeii, including the ancient temple of Isis or the tomb of the priestess Mamia. But hand in hand with the redrawing goes the invention, the theatrical elevation of the buildings and ruins, after all, the Piranesis lived in the late Baroque or early Classicism. Like Piranesi, Francesco was also a documentarist of ancient buildings and can be considered an early archaeologist. For years Francesco assisted him, so that many works cannot be clearly attributed to the father's or son's hand.Īfter the death of Giovanni Batista in 1778, Francesco Piranesi continued his father's business. Francesco worked together with his siblings Laura and Pietro as etcher and draughtsman in his father's workshop. Francesco Piranesi learned the art of etching and copperplate engraving from his father Giovanni Batista, who is still famous today for his city views of Rome and his inventions of labyrinthine dungeon rooms. Without the Piranesis family of artists and architects, we would know far less about the state of the ruins of ancient Rome in the 18th century.