Piranesi | Differentes vues de Pesto, [Rome, 1778, but Paris, later], later half leather

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Differentes vues de quelques restes de trois grands edifices qui subsistent encore dans le milieu de l'ancienne ville de Pesto autrement Posidonia qui est situee dans la Lucanie. [Rome, 1778, but Paris, later]

folio (560 x 401mm.), double-page etched title-page, 20 double-page etched plates (mostly signed by Piranesi, two by his son Francesco), nineteenth-century leather-backed green cloth boards, lettered on spine "Rovine di Pesto", top edge gilt, title-page creased around central fold, some very light foxing, final plate with small repaired tear and small marginal tear, upper joint cracking at foot

Piranesi's final work, which was originally issued around the time of his death in late 1778 and completed by his son Francesco (c.1756-1810), who probably finished off the plates ostensibly signed by his father. The impressive ruins of Paestum, visited by Piranesi in 1777 at the height of the site's popularity with visitors and antiquarians, are romantically depicted in a decaying and crumbling form inhabited by the locals and their cattle, rather than as pure clean architectural lines.

The present copy was probably printed by Francesco Piranesi after he moved to Paris in 1798.

LITERATURE

BAL RIBA 2555

PROVENANCE

James O'Byrne (the architect, 1835-1897), armorial bookplate, his sale, Christie's, London, 22 July 1987, lot 156