Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778)

[Antique print, etching, Piranesi] Pianta del Mausoleo di Costanza. (Plan of mausoleum of Constantia, daughter of Emperor Constantine), published 1756-1784, 1 p.

Name: [Antique print, etching, Piranesi] Pianta del Mausoleo di Costanza. (Plan of mausoleum of Constantia, daughter of Emperor Constantine), published 1756-1784, 1 p.
SKU: PR120794
Price: 160.00 EUR
Availability: InStock

Plate XXI from the II out of four volumes collection Le Antichità Romane collecting plates by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, firstly published by Angelo Rotili in Rome between 1756 and 1757. The second edition appeared in 1784. Original wide margins, no traces of binding or folding. Title and description within the illustration plate.

Titled below: ‘Pianta del Mausoleo di Costanza.‘

Signed on the bottom right: ‘Piranesi Archit. dis. ed inc.’

“The plate shows the plan of the Mausoleum of Costanza and the adjacent basilica of Santa Agnese. The two monuments, both built around the middle of the 4th century at the behest of Constance, daughter of Emperor Constantine, were long considered to be of pagan origin: the mausoleum was interpreted as a temple of Bacchus subsequently adapted, while the basilica as a hippodrome ( Marliano 1550, V, p. 159; Fauno 1553, I, p. 15) or a “Cortile Baccanario” (Serlio, 1562, III, p. 20).
The identification of the mausoleum is significant for the temporal definition in which the five tables (XXI to XXV) that accompany the description of the monument in this work were engraved. As is well known, Piranesi created an internal view of the mausoleum between 1749 and 1750, which was later included in the posthumous collection of the Vedute di Roma (see Robison 1983, p. 22). The first state of the palte appears in the Magnificenze di Roma (1751) and still shows the indication “Tempio di Bacco [Temple of Bacchus]”, modified a few years later with the words “epolcro di S. Costanza … erroneamente detta il tempio di Bacco [Sepolcro di S. Costanza … erroneously called the temple of Bacchus]” already documented in some copies published by Bouchard (see Hind 1922, pp. 48-49).[…].” (Mariasole Garacci, ICG, Rome).

Translated title: Plan of the Mausoleum of Constantia, the daughter of the Emperor Constantine the Great… / Plattegrond van Mausoleum van Constantie, dochter van Keizer Constantijn.

SKU: PR120794

Etching with some interventions in burin on hand laid paper, with broad margins; plate mark: 395 x 597 mm; total 550 x 802 mm; damp stains on the right margin, some tiny holes within plate, somewhat frayed end margins with some rubbing, otherwise in great condition.

€ 193,60 (€ 160,00 ex. btw)

In stock