UPDATED: Oct. 4, 2017 at 12:19 a.m.

Known for his engravings and etchings, Italian artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi used a plate as his canvas.

The artist created more than 2,000 plates throughout the 18^th century, featuring etchings of landscapes and structures. Piranesi will be the featured artist of a Lunchtime Lecture on Oct. 11 from 12:15 to 1 p.m. as part of SUArt Gallery’s collection “Meant to Be Shared: Selections from the Arthur Ross Collection of European Prints.” The exhibit is on display now through Nov. 19th and is open to the public.

“(It) will be about the artist Piranesi who did the images about Rome and other subjects in our present exhibition,” said Domenic Iacono, director of the SUArt Galleries. “We’ll talk about the reason for him producing these images and the impact they had on art, archeology, the study of Roman history and civilization, and the Grand Tour of Italy that was popular in the 18th and 19th centuries.”

Born in early 18^th century, Piranesi got his start apprenticing under his uncle, Matteo Lucchesi, a leading architect in the state organization responsible for engineering and restoring historical buildings.

Piranesi travelled to Rome at the age of 20 to work as a draftsman for Venetian ambassador Marco Foscarini. Piranesi then worked under various prestigious printmakers, namely Giuseppe Vasi, who originally introduced him to etching and engraving. From there, Piranesi developed his signature etching technique, featuring strong contrasts of light and shadow.

Collaborating with students of the French Academy in Rome, he produced a series of views of the city — Prima parte di Architettura e Prospettive — followed by his work Varie Vedute di Roma.

His other most-famed works include: “Imaginary Prisons,” which is a series of 16 prints depicting underground ruins around eerie stairs and foreboding instruments of torture and “The Piranesi Vase” which made him an accredited restorer.

Many structures in Rome were left to become ruins, but between Piranesi’s objective technical drawings and notes of the monuments’ components, the audience can get a sense of the time period.

He later published his book “Remains of the Edifices of Paestum,” which present the historical design of the 18^th century, after returning to Rome, where he opened a workshop in Via del Corso. But likely his greatest claim to fame lies in his series of “vedute,” meaning views of the city.

Piranesi often visited Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, a leading engraving artist in Venice. Tiepolo is also featured in the SUArt Galleries collection with his work “Death Giving an Audience,” presented next to Piranesi’s “Veduta della Piazza di Monte Cavallo” and “Title plate, plate 1.”

Piranesi died Nov. 9, 1778 in Rome, after suffering long term illness. He is buried in a Church he helped restore, Santa Maria del Priorato.

This post has been updated for appropriate style.

Published on October 3, 2017 at 10:40 pm

Contact Emma: elglasse@syr.edu