The Skeletons, from Grotteschi (Grotesques) Artist: Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian, 1720–1778)

1750s

Prints and Drawings

By appointment, Duffy Study Room

The four large prints that Giovanni Battista Piranesi called Grotteschi (Grotesques) might equally have been called Capricci, as they share the undetermined, somewhat mysterious subject matter of the prints of that title by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo; Piranesi had doubtless seen Tiepolo’s prints on a trip from his adopted city of Rome to his native Venice in the mid-1740s. Unlike Tiepolo’s, however, Piranesi’s were grounded in a true archaeological interest in antiquity.

Medium

Etching

Dimensions

platemark: 15 3/8 × 21 7/16 in. (39 × 54.5 cm)

Credit Line

The Arthur Ross Collection

Accession Number

2012.159.16.1

Geography

Made in Italy

Culture

Italian

Period

18th century

Classification

Prints

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
William H. Schab Gallery, New York; Arthur Ross Foundation, New York, to 2012; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

etchings

Technical metadata and APIs

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Open in Mirador

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