Giambattista Piranesi

Tables of the ruins of Rome

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, also known as Giambattista (Mogliano Veneto, 4 October 1720 - Rome, 9 November 1778), was an engraver, architect and theorist of Italian architecture.

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In Rome, Piranesi became passionate about ancient ruins and classical architecture. He began to devote himself to engraving, producing a series of views of Rome and its antiquities. His most famous work is the series of engravings entitled "Le Vedute di Roma" (Views of Rome), which contributed greatly to spreading interest in Roman antiquity in Europe.

Piranesi was notable for his detailed and imaginative style, which often emphasized the grandeur and magnificence of ruins. Over the course of his career, he also produced a series of prison engravings, known as the "Prisons of Invention", which showed intricate and imaginative architectural environments.