Veduta dell' Anfiteatro Flavio detto Il Colosseo (View of Flavian Amphitheater, called the Colosseum), from the series "Vedute di Roma (Views of Rome)"

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Artist/Maker Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian, 1720 - 1778)

Date1776

MediumEtching

DimensionsComposition: 19 3/8 × 27 3/4 in. (49.2 × 70.5 cm) Plate: 19 5/8 × 28 3/8 in. (49.8 × 72.1 cm) Sheet: 20 5/8 × 28 11/16 in. (52.4 × 72.9 cm) Frame: 29 1/16 × 39 × 2 in. (73.8 × 99.1 × 5.1 cm)

Credit LineGift of David and Anne Beilby Strauss in memory of George E. Beilby Jr., Class of 1938

Object number1987.14

Not on view

DescriptionGiovanni Battista Piranesi was one of the premier printmakers of the eighteenth century. His lifetime output consisted of hundreds of prints, many of which depicted the remains and ruins of ancient Roman culture. Such a focus is not surprising, considering that the artist was also an architect and the son of a stonemason and master builder. In 1740, Piranesi moved from Venice to Rome, where he apprenticed with Giuseppe Vasi, a popular printmaker who created views of the city for pilgrims and tourists. Through his printmaking practice, Piranesi was able to explore his interests in both architecture and antiquity. This view of the Colosseum is from one of the artist’s best-known bodies of work, the Vedute di Roma (Views of Rome)—135 compositions on which he worked from about 1747 until his death in 1778, two years after the completion of this etching. It is one of four prints in the Vedute featuring the Colosseum, which was originally named the Flavian Amphitheater for the dynasty of Roman emperors who built it, having been begun under Vespasian and completed in 80 CE by his son Titus. The amphitheater, the largest in the Roman Empire at the time, hosted gladiatorial combats, mock naval battles, and public executions. During the Middle Ages, it became known as the Colosseum, seemingly not for its own size but for that of a large bronze statue that once stood just outside it. Although Piranesi based his compositions on actual ruins, he brought great creativity to their depictions, often dramatizing them through bold chiaroscuro effects and unusual perspectives. The bird’s-eye view seen here would not have been available to contemporary visitors, but it allowed the artist to represent the entirety of the Colosseum, including its interior. In 1987, David and Anne Beilby Strauss donated this work to the Emerson Gallery. The print had passed down to Anne from her grandfather, George H. Sicard, Class of 1906, who himself had received it from Melancthon Woolsey Stryker, president of the College from 1892 to 1917. (SOURCE: Alcauskas, INNOVATIVE APPROACHES, HONORED TRADITIONS, 2017)

Additional Details

Exhibition History 2017
Clinton, NY (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College). "Innovative Approaches, Honored Traditions: The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Five Years, Highlights from the Permanent Collection," September 9 - December 10, 2017 (cat. no. 34, illus.);

1992
Clinton, NY (Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College). "Highlights from the Hamilton College Collection," June 5 - September 6, 1992 (cat. no 111).

Provenance 1987: Hamilton College (Fred L. Emerson Gallery), by gift of Anne Beilbly Strauss;
? - 1987: Anne Beilbly Strauss, by gift or inheritance from her father, George E. Beilby Jr., Class of 1938;
?: George E. Beilby Jr., by gift or inheritance from his father-in-law, George H. Sicard, Class of 1906;
?: George H. Sicard, by gift of Melancthon Woolsey Stryker.

Published References Katherine D. Alcauskas, INNOVATIVE APPROACHES, HONORED TRADITIONS: THE RUTH AND ELMER WELLIN MUSEUM OF ART AT FIVE YEARS, HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION (Clinton, NY: Wellin Museum of Art, 2017), p. 106;

John Wilton-Ely, GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIRANESI: THE COMPLETE ETCHINGS, vol. I (San Francisco: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, 1994), p. 302;

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE HAMILTON COLLEGE COLLECTION, exh. cat. (Clinton, NY: Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College, 1992);

Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College, "Acquisitions 1987," FRIENDS OF ART NEWSLETTER, vol. 1, no. 1 (February 1988);

Carlo A. Petrucci, CATALOGO GENERALE DELLA STAMPE TRATTE DAI RAMI INCISI POSSEDUTI DELLA CALCOGRAFIA NAZIONALE (Rome, 1953);

Arthur M. Hind, GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIRANESI: A CRITICAL STUDY WITH A LIST OF HIS PUBLISHED WORKS AND DETAILED CATALOGUES OF THE PRISONS AND THE VIEWS OF ROME (London, 1922);

Henri Focillon, GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIRANESI: ESAI DE CATALOGUE RAISONNE DE SON OEUVRE (Paris, 1918).

Signature Signed "Cav. Piranesi F." in plate at lower right composition.

Inscribed "VEDUTA DELL' ANFITEATRO FLA- / VIO DETTO IL COLOSSEO / A. Mancano i Gradi, e le Sostruzioni B, che reggeva- / no i detti Gradi. / C Manca la Volta, sopra cui vi era il Podio, ove se- / devano i Consoli, il Senato, i Sacerdoti, e le Vergi- / ni Vestali, le quali stavano dirimpetto al Pretorio. / D Sedeva l'Ordine Equestre / E Manca la Loggia, o Pulvinare per i'Impe. e sua Corte. / F Gradi, di dove scendeva l'Impe. Tito dalle sue Terme.; in plate at lower right: G I Soldati Pretoriani erano qui disposti, e ne' passaggi. / H Sedeva la Gioventu nobile co'loro Pedagoghi, ed al- / tri attinenti ai Collegi, e Persone di rango. / K Sedevano le Donne. / L Scale per salir sopra a legari canapi per situar la Tenda. / M Cappellette, e Croce nel mezzo, e Chiesa moderna. / N Manca la Circonferenza esterna. / O Avanzi di Stuchi lavorati a grottesco." in plate at lower left.