PIRANESI, Giovanni Battista (1720-1778). Della magnificenza ed architettura de' Romani. Rome: 1761. 2° (535 x 400mm). Text in Latin and Italian. Etched Latin and French titles, engraved portrait of Pope Clement XIII by D.Cunego after Piranesi, 38 etched plates, 4 folding, 9 double-page, 3 initials and 2 tail-pieces. (Some light marginal spotting.) Contemporary mottled calf gilt, coroneted 'P' of the Dukes of Portland at centre of covers (rebacked, old lettering-piece repaired and laid-down). Provenance : [William Henry, 3rd Duke of Portland (1738-1809, binding, by descent to:)]; William Arthur, 6th Duke of Portland (1857-1943, armorial bookplate, binding). A fine copy from a ducal library, presumably purchased on the Grand Tour made by William Henry as marquess of Tichfield (succeeding to the duchy of Portland in 1762) in Italy in 1760-61. Della magnificenza ed architettura de' Romani is Piranesi's longest work, an illustrated theoretical treatise on Roman architecture. He wrote it as a rebuttal to Allan Ramsay's anonymously published A dialogue of taste (1755) which argued for the primacy of Greek art and culture. Piranesi countered Ramsay and other Philhellines, such as the abbé Winckelmann by rejecting the Greek influence and defending Roman originality. Without the supplemental Osservazioni sometimes bound in. Focillon pp. 360-362; Hind pp. 84-85.
PIRANESI, Giovanni Battista (1720-1778). Della magnificenza ed architettura de' Romani. Rome: 1761. 2° (535 x 400mm). Text in Latin and Italian. Etched Latin and French titles, engraved portrait of Pope Clement XIII by D.Cunego after Piranesi, 38 etched plates, 4 folding, 9 double-page, 3 initials and 2 tail-pieces. (Some light marginal spotting.) Contemporary mottled calf gilt, coroneted 'P' of the Dukes of Portland at centre of covers (rebacked, old lettering-piece repaired and laid-down). Provenance : [William Henry, 3rd Duke of Portland (1738-1809, binding, by descent to:)]; William Arthur, 6th Duke of Portland (1857-1943, armorial bookplate, binding). A fine copy from a ducal library, presumably purchased on the Grand Tour made by William Henry as marquess of Tichfield (succeeding to the duchy of Portland in 1762) in Italy in 1760-61. Della magnificenza ed architettura de' Romani is Piranesi's longest work, an illustrated theoretical treatise on Roman architecture. He wrote it as a rebuttal to Allan Ramsay's anonymously published A dialogue of taste (1755) which argued for the primacy of Greek art and culture. Piranesi countered Ramsay and other Philhellines, such as the abbé Winckelmann by rejecting the Greek influence and defending Roman originality. Without the supplemental Osservazioni sometimes bound in. Focillon pp. 360-362; Hind pp. 84-85.
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
