GIAMBATTISTA PIRANESI
(1720-1778)
Carceri (Prisons) was originally published by the Frenchman, Bouchard (incorrectly spelt Buzard on the original frontispiece), as a series of fourteen plates entitled Invenzioni Capric di Carceri all Acqua Forte, around 1743-45. The original plates were lightly etched (lacking the tonality of the later states) and it has been suggested that they only achieved a limited commercial success. Around 1758-60 Piranesi recovered possession of the plates, and subsequently re-worked them through numerous states so that they continued to be revised and published up to the 1770s.
The theme of grand architectural structures had been previously explored in the Prima Parte (first edition 1743-9). A further indication of Piranesi’s interest in such subject matter is the wash drawing, Complex of Stones Piers and Arches c.1743 (Pierpont Library). However, the combination of grand architectural structures with the concept of the prison was already current in Baroque stage design of the time and the theme had already been explored by precursors of Piranesi such as Ferdinando Gallo-Bibiena (1657-1743) and Marco Ricci (1676-1730), both of whom etched ‘Prison interiors’; indeed, Piranesi had already created a stage-like setting in the Prima Parte series, the Dark Prison.
Compositionally, the Carceri fall into two types, the grandiose staircase hall and the vista framed in the arch of a monumental bridge. In The Pier with a Lamp, the fore- and middle ground are strongly reminiscent of the fore- and middle ground of the upper half of Gruppo di Colonne (most notably the capital and capital arch) in the Prima Parte. As with many of his works (see entry for P.469 & P.470) there are very few surviving drawings for this series. In the intensive reworking of the plates from the 1760s onwards, Piranesi was to develop a far higher degree of tonal contrast and a more specific definition of form. The artist also strove to increase the sense of structural immensity through the addition of further staircases, galleries and roof structures. Piranesi was also to adjust the tonal values of the plates by experimenting with the distribution of ink during the printing process.
Copyright © Trustees of Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford.
Extract taken from Prints, Cecil Higgins Art Gallery .