Prints and Principles

Most of the recent posts give details about individual prints and earlier posts discuss some of the subtle principles guiding artists in making images meaningful and memorable. For prints that are unsold, click "Items still available for sale" below. All other prints are no longer available. My contact email is oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com and my Instagram username is @printsandprinciples. I have created a separate blog to show my own work: https://printsandprinciplesjamesbrown.blogspot.com

Sunday, 16 November 2025

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, “Urns, stelae, and cinerary vases of marble …,” 1756

Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–1778)

“Urns, stelae, and cinerary vases of marble at the Villa Corsini, outside Porta San Pancrazio” (also known as “Urne, cippi, et vasi cenerari di marmo nella Villa Corsini fuori di Porta S. Pancrazio”), 1756.

Plate LVII (57) from the second of four volumes in the series “Le Antichità Romane”, published in Rome.

This etching was printed from two plates—an upper image plate and a text plate—on heavy laid paper, dated to the early 1760s. It features a watermark with a fleur-de-lys within a double circle, possibly surmounted by the letter “B” (see Wilton-Ely, p. 1161, cat. no. 33). The centrefold from publication, has been flattened and reinforced on the verso with a strip of archival washi paper for stability.

Size:

- Sheet: 52.19 x 75.9 cm

- Plate mark (image): 40 x 62.1 cm

- Plate mark (text): 5 x 63 cm

Plate lettering:

Within the image borderline, in the plate:

- Upper left: “Tom. II.”

- Centre: “URNE, CIPPI, ET VASI CENERAR[I] DI MARMO NELLA VILLA CORSI[N]I FUORI DI PORTA S. PANCRAZIO”

- Upper right: “LVII”

Below the image borderline, in seven lines of Italian:

- “Tutti questi sepolcrali Monumenti … come abbiamo indicato altrove. Piranesi Architetto dis. ed Inc.”

Reference:

Wilton-Ely 414 (John Wilton-Ely, Giovanni Battista Piranesi: The Complete Etchings, vol. I, San Francisco, Alan Wofsy, 1994, p. 466, cat. no. 414).

Condition:

A richly inked, well-printed impression with wide margins, as published. The large sheet is in excellent (near-pristine) condition, with the centrefold flattened and reinforced on the verso with a strip of archival washi paper for added stability.

Price & Shipping:

AU$664 (approx. US$433.48 / €373.27 / £329.59), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in acquiring this breathtakingly strong and impressive etching by Piranesi, please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I will be happy to send a PayPal invoice to facilitate an easy purchase.

This print has been sold