The Tomb of Nero

Giovanni Battista Piranesica. 1745

Details

Title: The Tomb of Nero
Creator: Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Date Created: ca. 1745
Signatures / Inscriptions: Signed in plate, lower left; “Piranesi invento ed incise”; inscribed, lower right: numeral “26”
Set or Series Title: Grotteschi
Print State: Second of two states
Object Type: Prints, works of art
Object Link: See this artwork on the Davison Art Center website
Object Credit Line: Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University. Gift of George W. Davison (B.A. Wesleyan 1892), before 1953
Materials & Techniques: Etching on laid paper. Watermark: “house and bird”. Watermark: Hind #7
Keywords: architecture, death, graves, Italy, Rome
Image Credit Line: Open Access Image from the Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University (http://www.wesleyan.edu/dac/openaccess)
Edition: First Paris edition, 1800–1807; according to Robison, reworked
Dimensions: Plate dimensions: 388 mm x 545 mm (15.28 in. x 21.46 in.). Sheet dimensions: 507 mm x 706 mm (19.96 in. x 27.8 in.).
Bibliography: Focillon 22; Hind, p. 80; Wilton-Ely 23 and p. 43 with remark: “Decorative capriccio. Fragments and a sarcophagus infested with serpents in the foreground with the ‘Tomb of Nero’ above.”
Associated People: Created by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian, 1720-1778)
Accession Number: 1973.D1.38.28

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