Selected etchings by Piranesi, series 2 — Text and Context

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Authors: Piranesi, Giovanni Battista, 1720-1778 [Artist], Reilly, C. H. (Charles Herbert), Sir, 1874-1948 [Editor] Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2023 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Piranesi, Giovanni Battista, 1720-1778; Etching, Italian Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

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Words 4,655

Reading time 21 min

Text sections 9

This digital edition of Selected etchings by Piranesi, series 2 — Text and Context is described by source-level measurements including 4,655 words, 21 min estimated reading time, and 9 detected text sections.

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Source: Project Gutenberg record #71256

This editorial note examines C. H. Reilly's 1910 introduction to a second series of Piranesi etchings, focusing on the tension between imaginative design and archaeological record, the selection's architectural priorities, and the editor's framing of Piranesi's value for architects.

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Transcriber’s Note: Italic text is enclosed in _underscores_; boldface text is enclosed in =equals signs=.

Transcriber included the plate numbers in their captions.

C. H. REILLY, M.A., F.R.I.B.A.,

Roscoe Professor of Architecture, The University of Liverpool.

TECHNICAL JOURNALS, LTD. CAXTON HOUSE :: WESTMINSTER

1. Medallion Portrait of Piranesi. 2. Trophy of Arms.

3. Design for a Bridge. 4. Design for a Forum. 5. A Roman Hall. 6. Imaginary Prison Interior. 7. Ditto. 8. Ditto.

VIEWS OF ROMAN BUILDINGS AND SITES.

9. View of the Campo Vaccino (Forum Romanum). 10. Temple of Concord. 11. Arch of Titus. 12. Ditto. 13. Arch of Constantine. 14. Arch of Trajan at Ancona. 15. Tomb of Cecilia Metella. 16. The Ponte Salario. 17. The Ponte Lugano. 18. Temple of Ceres. 19. Forum of Nerva. 20. Ditto. 21. Temple of Bacchus. 22. Temple of Minerva Medica (now considered part of the Baths of Gallienus). 23. Part of the Colosseum. 24. Basilica of S. Lorenzo. 25. Basilica of St. Paul. 26. Basilica of S. Sebastian. 27. The Trevi Fountain. 28. Fountain of Pope Paul V. 29. The Felice Fountain. 30. The Palazzo Laterano. 31. The Palazzo Barbarini. 32. The Palazzo Quirinale.

VASES, PEDESTALS, &C.

33. The Nave of St. Peter’s. 34. The Interior under the dome of St. Peter’s. 35. The Interior of St. John Lateran. 36. Pedestal from the Borghese Collection. 37. Offertory Box from the “Vasi Candelabri.” 38. Urn from ditto. 39. Ditto. 40. Vase from ditto. 41. Ditto. 42. Ditto. 43. Ditto. 44. Ditto. 45. Ditto. 46. Ditto. 47. Ditto. 48. Chimneypiece from the “Diverse Maniere.” 49. Ditto. 50. Ditto.

The demand which followed the issue of the first series of small reproductions of Piranesi’s etchings has tempted the Publishers to put forth a further selection. The mine is, indeed, inexhaustible, but all the etchings, though of great individual interest, are not of equal value to architects. For them Piranesi serves two main purposes: the first, a stimulus to the imagination; the second, a store of rich and expressive detail. In this selection, to assist in the first purpose, are included a few of his own architectural designs. These do not, however, in reality exhibit his great imaginative qualities so well as his interpretations of actual buildings. Although Piranesi was careful to see that he was always styled “Venetian Architect,” we have no very reliable evidence that he ever composed a building except on paper, and such paper plans as he published do not suggest great practical qualities. It is in his drawings of the ruins of ancient Rome that he gives us something at once more rare and more valuable than any ordinary architectural achievement. In them he shows us the inherent romance buried deep in Roman construction. Through him we learn the spiritual character of this construction when stripped of all its worldly ornament. It is true that in his drawings the buildings have another sort of decoration--a decoration of trees and foliage. In the eighteenth century the ruins had not yet been cleaned and docketed into museum specimens, but the romance which Piranesi reveals in arch, vault, and dome is something deeper than a mere picturesque contrast with foliage and figures. The romance he shows us is the romance of any enduring monument. It is the monumental quality of Roman construction which makes it akin to the great works of Nature, and the trees and vegetation in Piranesi drawings only help to demonstrate this kinship. The gesticulating figures serve a similar purpose. They are the men of a lesser generation gibbering over the work of ancestors they only half comprehend.

The other and more prosaic service which Piranesi can still render to architects, and especially in these days of neo-Classic detail, is by means of his careful drawings of antique ornaments and vases from his own and his friends’ collections. Here he not only provides us with an immense fund of detail, but he draws that detail in a way which gives us at once the very essence of its character. It is a character all may not love, but few can avoid feeling how suitable it is to the age in which we live.

SOME INTERESTING PUBLICATIONS

ISSUED BY TECHNICAL JOURNALS, LTD.

CAXTON HOUSE, WESTMINSTER, LONDON

TECHNICAL JOURNALS, LTD.

_Selected Etchings by Piranesi._

LIST OF PLATES OF VOLUME I.

1. Title-page to the “Vedute di Roma.” (_Pub. Rome_ 1751.)

2. Composition of Ruins.

3. Bas-relief from the Portico of the Church of the Apostles, Rome.

4. Antique bas-relief from Naples.

6. Design for a Grand Staircase.

7. Design for a Sculpture Gallery.

8. Design for the Mausoleum of a Roman Emperor.

VIEWS OF ROMAN BUILDINGS.

11. Pyramid of C. Cestius, Appian Way.

12. Temple of Hercules, Cora.

13. Basilica of Maxentius, Rome.

14. The Capitol, Rome.

16. The Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine, Rome.

18. Tomb of Hadrian (Castle of St. Angelo).

19. Ponte Molle, Rome.

20. The Temple of Vesta at Tivoli.

21. Interior of the Pantheon.

22. Gallery in Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli.

23. Ponte St. Angelo.

24. Temple of Concord, Rome.

25. Interior of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome.

26. Piazza Navona, Rome.

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This second series of Piranesi reproductions, edited by architect C. H. Reilly, deliberately balances two functions: stimulating the architectural imagination and supplying a store of detail. Reilly states that Piranesi's own architectural designs 'do not, however, in reality exhibit his great imaginative qualities so well as his interpretations of actual buildings.' This editorial note examines how the selection enacts that claim, the tensions between invention and documentation visible in the plate list, and the specific architectural lessons Reilly draws from the etchings.

Imagination vs. Record

The plate list reveals a deliberate contrast. The first eight plates include three 'Imaginary Prison Interior' views alongside designs for a bridge and a forum. Then the list shifts to Roman buildings and sites: the Forum Romanum, arches, tombs, bridges, temples, basilicas, fountains, and palaces. Reilly's introduction acknowledges that Piranesi's own designs do not show his imaginative qualities as well as his interpretations of actual buildings. This suggests the editor values Piranesi's ability to infuse real Roman structures with dramatic, almost fantastical presence—making the historical record itself a vehicle for imagination. The juxtaposition of invented prisons and measured views of the Colosseum or the Trevi Fountain sets up a productive tension between fantasy and archaeology.

An Architect's Selection

Reilly explicitly curates for architects. He notes that 'all the etchings, though of great individual interest, are not of equal value to architects.' The selection thus prioritizes plates that serve as 'a stimulus to the imagination' and 'a store of rich and expressive detail.' The plate list includes not only famous monuments but also less canonical subjects: the Ponte Salario, the Temple of Minerva Medica, and multiple vases and pedestals from the 'Vasi Candelabri.' The inclusion of chimneypieces from the 'Diverse Maniere' further emphasizes ornamental and structural detail. This is not a general survey of Piranesi's work but a targeted toolkit for architectural practice, emphasizing both grand compositional ideas and specific decorative motifs.

Scale and the Viewer's Eye

Although the excerpts do not include full descriptions of individual plates, the list itself implies a concern with scale and perspective. The inclusion of both vast interiors—the nave of St. Peter's, the interior under its dome—and small objects like an offertory box or urn creates a dramatic range. Reilly's introduction, though brief, frames Piranesi's etchings as works that 'serve' the architect by expanding the imagination. The viewer is invited to move from the colossal scale of Roman engineering to the intimate detail of a pedestal. This oscillation between the monumental and the minute is a recurring pattern in Piranesi's own compositions, and the selection preserves that dynamic, encouraging the reader to consider how scale affects architectural perception.

Readers approaching this collection should attend to the editorial framing: Reilly's introduction is not a neutral preface but a deliberate argument for how Piranesi should be used. The plate list itself is a curated sequence, not a random assortment. Noticing which buildings are included and which are omitted—and how imaginary prisons sit beside measured views—reveals the editor's architectural priorities. This edition rewards those who read the selection as a designed argument about the relationship between historical precedent and creative invention.

This edition’s talk of Piranesi’s imagined ruins reminded me of an afternoon spent among the Weston portraits—not their faces, but the gaps between them, the lives only hinted at. That same hush of knowing something incomplete. Another book once held me the same way, something about a house full of echoes, and I found it again in Biographical catalogue of the portraits at Weston, the seat of the Earl of Bradford — Reading Notes, where every name feels like a door left slightly open.