Giovanni Battista Piranesi

GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIRANESI (Mogliano Veneto, 1720 – Rome, 1778)
“Grand’Urna di Porfido,” 1756–1757.
Etching on paper.
Volume III, Plate XIX of *Le Antichità Romane*.
Signed on the plate.
Measurements: 40.5 x 61 cm (print); 73.5 x 89 cm (frame).

This print is part of *Le Antichità Romane*, a monumental publishing project through which Piranesi transformed the archaeological study of Rome into images of extraordinary visual power. The plate depicts the large porphyry urn found in the Mausoleum of Saint Helena, combining a reconstruction of the monument with sculptural fragments, reliefs, and architectural elements that evoke the grandeur of Antiquity. The Metropolitan Museum documents this same composition as Plate XIX of the third volume, published in 1756–1757.

The precision of the etching is combined here with a distinctly scenographic conception: the strong diagonals, the hallmarks of light and shadow, and the accumulation of archaeological remains transform the documentary record into a monumental vision of Rome. Piranesi was a key figure in the international dissemination of classical culture and exerted a decisive influence on 18th-century European taste. His graphic work is widely represented in collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the British Museum in London.