CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIRANESI AND THE ROMANTIC RUIN IN FRENCH LITHOGRAPHY A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Art History by Cynthia Lee Kimble January 1984 The Thesis of Cynthia Lee Kimble is approved: Birgitta Lindros Wohl, Ph.D. Kenon Breaze~le, Ph.D. California State University, Northridge ii I would like to extend my gratitude to the members of my committee, especially to Louise Lewis for her enthusiasm and understanding, and to Dr. Birgitta Wohl, for her friendship and guidance. I also want to express my appreciation to my family, for their loyal support and encouragement throughout the duration of this project. Last, but not least, I would like to say a special "thank you" to my typist, Ann Witkower, for her expertise in preparing the final draft of this thesis. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgments . .iii List of Plates •• . • • v Abstract. • • • • • •• xvii Introduction. • • 1 Chapter 1: The Forerunners of the Romantic Ruin in Print • • • • • . 4 Chapter 2: Piranesi and the Ruins of Rome. • 37 Chapter 3: Voyages pittoresques et romantiques dans l'ancienne France and Piranesi •••••• 91 Conclusion. • • • • • 0 • • • • • • • • • • • • .155 Bibliography. • 1 61 Appendices. • • • • • •••••• • 1 73 A Selected List of Piranesi's Works B Volumes of Voyages pittoresgues et romantigues dans l'ancienne France Plates. • • • • • 1 76 iv LIST OF PLATES Plate Page 1 • Fra Francesco Colonna. The Polyandrion, woodcut. Hypnerotomachia Polifili, 1499. Cooper Union Museum, New York. Source: Paul Zucker. Fascination of Decay: Ruins, Relic, Symbol, Ornament. Ridgewood, N.J.: Gregg Press, 1968, p. 14 • •••••••••••••• 176 2. Sebastiane Serlio. Title Page of Book III, woodcut. D'Architettura, Venice, 1540. Third Edition, 1551. Source: Paul Zucker. Fascination of Decay: Ruins, Relic, Symbol, Ornament. Ridgewood, N.J.: Gregg Press, 1968, p. 16. • • . • • • • • . • . 177 3. Etienne Dup~rac. Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, A.D. 141, etching. I Vestigi dell'Antichit~ di Roma, Rome (Rossi), 1575. Source: A. Hyatt Mayor. Prints and People. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1971, pl. 369 •• 178 4. Claude Lorrain. Ruins of Ancient Rome With the Burial of Santa Serapia, detail. Prado, Madrid. Source: Margaret Scherer. Marvels of Ancient Rome. New York: Phaidon Press for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1955, pl. 18 •••••••.. 179 5. Salvator Rosa. Battle Scene, early 1650's. Louvre, Paris. Source: Salvator Rosa. London: Hayward Gallery, 1973, pl. 15 ••••••• 180 v I ' 6. Egidius (Gilles) Sadeler. Nymphaeum Aquae Julia, engraving. Vestigi della Antichita di Roma, Tivoli, Puzzuolo e Altri Lvochi, Prague, 1616. Cooper Union Museum, New York. Source: Paul Zucker. Fascination of Decay: Ruins, Relic, Symbol, Ornament. Ridgewood, N.J.: Gregg Press, 1968, p. 30 ••••••••••••••• 181 7. Bartholomeus Breenburgh. A Roman Ruin, etching. 1620-27. Source: A. Hyatt Mayor. Prints and People. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1971, pl. 370 •• 182 8. Benedetto Castiglione. The Artist's Genius, etching. 1648. Source: Ann Percy. G.B. Castiglione: Master Draftsman of the Italian Baroque. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, p. 143 •••••••••••• 183 9. Ferdinanda Bibiena. Stage Design showing a scena per angelo, Architettura Civile, 1711. Source: John Wilton-Ely. The Mind and Art of Giovanni Battista Piranesi. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978, p. 10 • •••••••••••••• 184 10. Giovanni Paolo Pannini. Landscape With Roman Ruins, 1735. Kaiser Friedrich Museum, Berlin. Source: Margaret Scherer. Marvels of Ancient Rome. New York: Phaidon Press for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1955, pl. 18 • . • • • • • • • 185 11. Hubert Robert. Portico With the Statue of Marcus Aurelius. Louvre, Paris. Source: Margaret Scherer. Marvels of Ancient Rome. New York: Phaidon Press for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1955, pl. 22 •••••••.• 186 vi 12. Antonio Canaletto. The Portico With the Lantern, etching. Vedute altre prese da i luoghi, altre ideate, c. 1744. Source: The William A. Gumberts Collection of Canaletto Etchings. Santa Barbara: The Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1979, p. 77 ••••.••• 187 13. Antonio Canaletto. Landscape With Ruined Monuments, etching. Vedute altre prese da i luoghi, altre ideate, c. 1744. Source: The William A. Gumberts Collection of Canaletto Etchings. Santa Barbara: The Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1979, p. 81 •••••••• 188 14. Antonio Canaletto. Title Plate, etching. Vedute altre prese da i luoghi, altre ideate, c. 1744. Source: The William A. Gumberts Collection of Canaletto Etchings. Santa Barbara: The Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1979, p. 37. • • • .• 189 15. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. Young Man Seated, Leaning Against an Urn, etching. Capricci, c. 1743. Source: George Knox. Etchings by the Tiepolos. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1976, p. 107 •.•••• 190 16. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. Seated Man and Two Magician~, etching. Scherzi di Fantasia, c. 1744/5. Source: George Knox. Etchings by the Tiepolos. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1976, p. 138 •••••• 191 17. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. Seated Magician With Menke Standin Youth and Ox, etching. Scherzi di Fantasia, c. 1744 5. Source: Aldo Rizzi. Mostra del Tiepolo: disegnie acqueforti. Udine: Electa Editrice, 1971, p. 78 •.• 192 vii 18. Marco Ricci. Capriccio, etching. Experimenta, 1730. Source: John Wilton-Ely. The Mind and Art of Giovanni Battista Piranesi. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978, p. 10 • •••••••••••••• 193 19. Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Frontispiece, etching. Prima Parte di Architetture e Prospettive, 1743. Source: John Wilton-Ely. The Mind and Art of Giovanni Battista Piranesi. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978, p. 12 • •••••••••••••• 194 20. Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Plate from the Grotteschi, etching. c. 1745. Source: John Wilton-Ely. The Mind and Art of Giovanni Battista Piranesi. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978, p. 20. • . 195 21. Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Facade of St. John Lateran, etching. Varie Vedute di Roma Antica e Moderna, c. 1745. Source: John Wilton-Ely. The Mind and Art of Giovanni Battista Piranesi. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978, p. 26 • •••••••••••••• 196 22. Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Circus of Caracalla, etching. Varie Vedute di Roma Antica e Moderna, c. 1745. Source: John Wilton-Ely. The Mind and Art of Giovanni Battista Piranesi. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978, p. 28 ••••••••••••••• 197 23. Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Pyramid of Cestius, etching. Varie Vedute di Roma Antica e Moderna, c. 1745. Source: John Wilton-Ely. The Mind and Art of Giovanni Battista Piranesi. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978, p. 28 • •••••••••••••• 198 viii 24. Giuseppe Vasi. Pyramid of Cestius, etching. Magnificenze di Roma Antica e Moderna, 1747. Source: John Wilton-Ely. The Mind and Art of Giovanni Battista Piranesi. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978, p. 28 •••••••••• • 199 25. Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Arch of Constantine, etching. Antichit£ Romane de' Tempi della Repubblica e de' Primi Imperatori, 1748. (Later reprinted as Alcune Vedute di Archi Trionfali, c. 1765.) Source: Jonathan Scott. Piranesi. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1975, p. 18 • •••••••••••••• 200 26. Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Arch of Janus, etching. Antichit~ Romane de' Tempi della Repubblica e de' Primi Imperatori, 1748. (Later reprinted as Alcune Vedute di Archi Trionfali, c. 1765.) Source: Jonathan Scott. Piranesi. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1975, p. 18 • •••••••••••••• 201 27. Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Frontispiece, etching. Le Antichit~ Romane, 1756. Source: John Wilton-Ely. The Mind and Art of Giovanni Battista Piranesi. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978, p. 49 • •••••••••••••• 202 28. Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Foundations of the Castel s. Angelo, etching. Le Antichita Romane, 1756. Source: John Wilton-Ely. The Mind and Art of Giovanni Battista Piranesi. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978, p. 58 . .•............ 203 29. Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum, etching. Vedute di Roma, c. 1748-1778. Source: Jonathan Scott. Piranesi. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1975, p. 248 • • • • • • . • • . • • • • 204 ix 30. Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Pyramid of Cestius, etching. Vedute di Roma, c. 1748- 1778. Source: John Wilton-Ely. The Mind and Art of Giovanni Battista Piranesi. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978, p. 35 ••••••• • 205 31. Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Arch of Titus, etching. Vedute di Roma, c. 1748-1778. Source: Jonathan Scott. Piranesi. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1975, p. 264 . • • • • • • • • • • • • • 206 32. Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Pyramid of Cestius, etching. Vedute di Roma, c. 1748-1778. Source: John Wilton-Ely. The Mind and Art of Giovanni Battista Piranesi. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978, p. 35. • • 207 33. Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Colosseum, etching. Vedute di Roma, c. 1748-1778. Source: Hans Volkmann. Giovanni Battista Piranesi: Architekund Graphiker. Berlin: Verlag, 1965, pl. 22 ••• 208 34. Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Tomb of Cecilia Metella, etching. Vedute di Roma, c. 1748- 1778. Source: Arthur M. Hind. Giovanni Battista Piranesi: A Critical Study With A List of His Published Works and Detailed Catalogues of the Prisons and the Views of Rome. London: The Cotswold Gallery, 1922, pl. XXXVII •••••••••••• 209 X 35. Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Interior of the Central Hall, Baths of Caracalla, etching. Vedute di Roma, c. 1748-1778. Source: Arthur M. Hind. Giovanni Battista Piranesi: A Critical Study With A List of His Published Works and Detailed