Piranesi produced urban landscapes and architectural compositions that often fused reality with imagination. Many are enlivened by the inclusion of human figures complementing the ancient and modern structures.
Travelers on the Grand Tour, guides, locals, and cow- and goatherds all appear to be engaged in mundane tasks and everyday interactions. They effectively invite the viewer into the space while providing a sense of scale, increased for architecture and diminished for people. Piranesi thus urges and rewards close looking.
Piranesi’s capacity to create figures that augment the dynamic nature of his prints is best seen in his Carceri d’invenzione [Imaginary Prisons] series. In these prints, ghost-like impressions of human figures seem to be seeking an escape, equally reassuring and frightening the viewer.
Veduta del Tempio di Ercole nella Città di Cora … [View of the Temple of Hercules at Cori …], 1769
Etching and engraving on paper
Image: 15 1/8 x 20 7/8 inches (38.4 x 53 cm)
Purchase with funds provided by Jane and Raphael Bernstein
Click or tap image to enlarge
A seated figure in the lower right corner invites the viewer to enter the depicted space. On the right, a standing figure gestures towards the center of the scene where, below the temple ruins, a kneeling beggar engages a passerby. Piranesi creates a visual joke with the figure resting on the text panel identifying the temple as dedicated to Hercules.
All figures appear oblivious to the ruins that constitute the focus of the print.
“The Well,” 1761 (Detail)
Plate 13 from Carceri d’invenzione [Imaginary Prisons]
Etching and engraving on paper
Purchase with funds provided by the Memorial Art Fund, 2024.028
Click or tap image to enlarge
This detail of “The Well” from the second edition of Piranesi’s Carceri d’invenzione [Imaginary Prisons] features depictions of human figures that range from fuzzy representations to hazy silhouettes. They contrast with the generally more naturalistic renditions of the humans seen in the Vedute di Roma [Views of Rome], as exemplified by the previous two images.