{"id":90,"date":"2025-07-29T14:42:55","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T14:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/visions-of-grandeur\/?page_id=90"},"modified":"2025-09-04T20:11:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T20:11:15","slug":"piranesi-and-eighteenth-century-antiquarianism","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/visions-of-grandeur\/piranesi-and-eighteenth-century-antiquarianism\/","title":{"rendered":"Piranesi and Eighteenth-Century Antiquarianism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Interest in Ancient Rome predates Piranesi\u2019s time by centuries. Already during the Middle Ages and, especially, the Renaissance antiquarianism, a profound interest in Classical Antiquity had become prominent. During the eighteenth century, however, Rome became a major destination for antiquarians and curious tourists eager to take in the sights of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Upon his arrival in Rome in 1740, Piranesi apprenticed with Giuseppe Vasi (1710\u20131782), a printmaker who provided guidebooks with small views of ancient and modern Rome. Honing his printmaking skills and deepening his passion for Ancient Rome, he blended his interest in the antique and the picturesque.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Driven by his antiquarian zeal and artistic ambition, Piranesi became the ultimate preserver of Rome\u2019s ruins. Before long, his prints transcended mere antiquarian documentation, presenting ancient remains in a compelling dialogue between antiquity and the present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top has-kubio-color-6-color has-kubio-color-5-variant-2-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-1\" style=\"margin-top:100px;margin-bottom:100px;grid-template-columns:40% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><a href=\"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/visions-of-grandeur\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/chapter2_001_piranesi_casa_di_nicolo_di_rienzo.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"710\" src=\"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/visions-of-grandeur\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/chapter2_001_piranesi_casa_di_nicolo_di_rienzo-1024x710.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-190 size-large\" srcset=\"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/visions-of-grandeur\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/chapter2_001_piranesi_casa_di_nicolo_di_rienzo-1024x710.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/visions-of-grandeur\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/chapter2_001_piranesi_casa_di_nicolo_di_rienzo-300x208.jpg 300w, https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/visions-of-grandeur\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/chapter2_001_piranesi_casa_di_nicolo_di_rienzo-768x533.jpg 768w, https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/visions-of-grandeur\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/chapter2_001_piranesi_casa_di_nicolo_di_rienzo.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top has-kubio-color-6-color has-kubio-color-5-variant-2-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-2\" style=\"margin-top:100px;margin-bottom:70px;grid-template-columns:40% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><a href=\"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/visions-of-grandeur\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/chapter2_002_piranesi_sepolcro_della_familia_de_scipioni.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"556\" src=\"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/visions-of-grandeur\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/chapter2_002_piranesi_sepolcro_della_familia_de_scipioni-1024x556.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-191 size-large\" srcset=\"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/visions-of-grandeur\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/chapter2_002_piranesi_sepolcro_della_familia_de_scipioni-1024x556.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/visions-of-grandeur\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/chapter2_002_piranesi_sepolcro_della_familia_de_scipioni-300x163.jpg 300w, https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/visions-of-grandeur\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/chapter2_002_piranesi_sepolcro_della_familia_de_scipioni-768x417.jpg 768w, https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/visions-of-grandeur\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/chapter2_002_piranesi_sepolcro_della_familia_de_scipioni.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Interest in Ancient Rome predates Piranesi\u2019s time by centuries. Already during the Middle Ages and, especially, the Renaissance antiquarianism, a profound interest in Classical Antiquity had become prominent. During the eighteenth century, however, Rome became a major destination for antiquarians and curious tourists eager to take in the sights of the city. Upon his arrival [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-chapter-2-template","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":true,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-90","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"kubio_ai_page_context":{"short_desc":"","purpose":"general"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Piranesi and Eighteenth-Century Antiquarianism - Piranesi: Visions of Grandeur<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/visions-of-grandeur\/piranesi-and-eighteenth-century-antiquarianism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Piranesi and Eighteenth-Century Antiquarianism - Piranesi: Visions of Grandeur\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Interest in Ancient Rome predates Piranesi\u2019s time by centuries. Already during the Middle Ages and, especially, the Renaissance antiquarianism, a profound interest in Classical Antiquity had become prominent. During the eighteenth century, however, Rome became a major destination for antiquarians and curious tourists eager to take in the sights of the city. Upon his arrival [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/visions-of-grandeur\/piranesi-and-eighteenth-century-antiquarianism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Piranesi: Visions of Grandeur\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/middartmuseum\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-04T20:11:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/museum.middcreate.net\/projects\/visions-of-grandeur\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/chapter2_001_piranesi_casa_di_nicolo_di_rienzo-1024x710.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@middartmuseum\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/museum.middcreate.net\\\/projects\\\/visions-of-grandeur\\\/piranesi-and-eighteenth-century-antiquarianism\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/museum.middcreate.net\\\/projects\\\/visions-of-grandeur\\\/piranesi-and-eighteenth-century-antiquarianism\\\/\",\"name\":\"Piranesi and Eighteenth-Century Antiquarianism - Piranesi: Visions of Grandeur\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/museum.middcreate.net\\\/projects\\\/visions-of-grandeur\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/museum.middcreate.net\\\/projects\\\/visions-of-grandeur\\\/piranesi-and-eighteenth-century-antiquarianism\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/museum.middcreate.net\\\/projects\\\/visions-of-grandeur\\\/piranesi-and-eighteenth-century-antiquarianism\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/museum.middcreate.net\\\/projects\\\/visions-of-grandeur\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/chapter2_001_piranesi_casa_di_nicolo_di_rienzo-1024x710.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-29T14:42:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-04T20:11:15+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/museum.middcreate.net\\\/projects\\\/visions-of-grandeur\\\/piranesi-and-eighteenth-century-antiquarianism\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/museum.middcreate.net\\\/projects\\\/visions-of-grandeur\\\/piranesi-and-eighteenth-century-antiquarianism\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/museum.middcreate.net\\\/projects\\\/visions-of-grandeur\\\/piranesi-and-eighteenth-century-antiquarianism\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/museum.middcreate.net\\\/projects\\\/visions-of-grandeur\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/chapter2_001_piranesi_casa_di_nicolo_di_rienzo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/museum.middcreate.net\\\/projects\\\/visions-of-grandeur\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/chapter2_001_piranesi_casa_di_nicolo_di_rienzo.jpg\",\"width\":1400,\"height\":971,\"caption\":\"Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian, 1720\u20131778), Veduta dell\u2019avanzo della Casa di Nicol\u00f2 di Rienzo \u2026 [View of the Ruins of the House of Nicolo di Rienzo \u2026], 1756, Plate 21 from Le Antichit\u00e0 romane [The Roman Antiquities], vol. 1, etching on paper, 5 1\\\/2 x 8 5\\\/8 inches. 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