Trajan's Column, from Views of Rome - Giovanni Battista Piranesi

The Charles Deering Collection

"Trajan's Column, from Views of Rome" by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1750/59) Etching on heavy ivory laid paper.

Commentary

"Trajan's Column, from Views of Rome" by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1750/59) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. The print-based method rewards close viewing, where line, texture, and contrast do most of the e xpressive work. Themes to notice include etching. This piece is held in the source collection's Prints and Drawings collection. Giovanni Battista Piranesi is the artist behind this work. A useful anchor for reading the piece: Giovanni Battista Piranesi Italian, 1720-1778. The work is cataloged within a Italy cultural context. How to look at this work: It is cataloged as etching, which gives a clue to how the museum frames the object. Its medium (Etching on heavy ivory laid paper) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (Image: 53.3 × 40.3 cm (21 × 15 7/8 in.); Plate: 54.7 × 41.3 cm (21 9/16 × 16 5/16 in.); Sheet: 62.6 × 48.1 cm (24 11/16 × 18 15/16 in.)) suggest how intimate or monumental it may feel in person. Subject cues from the catalog include etching. Compare this reading with the museum record at the source collection: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/48108

Sources: Art Institute of Chicago; Art Institute of Chicago / Public Records; Art Institute of Chicago Collection Data