Catalogo delle Opere date finora alla luce da Gio. Battista Piranesi

Etching and engraving, circa 1773, signed in plate top left.

Example corresponding to the twenty-second state of thirty-six described by Andrew Robison's very recent essay (March 2022) dated to the fall of 1773. Listed are 110 Vedute di Roma and, at lower right, the Pianta di Roma e del Campo Marzo a Paoli quindici and Colonna Traiana e suo piedistallo.

Ink inscription - probably autograph - at lower left: “Vedute di Roma tutte sono 116”. The subsequent Piranesi catalog, the twenty-third state described by Robison, sees the addition of 6 more Vedute di Roma, bringing precisely the number of works offered for sale to 116,

Magnificent proof, printed on contemporary laid paper without watermark, with thin margins, small restoration to lower left corner, traces of paper creases on verso, otherwise in good condition.

A common custom among many editors in the eighteenth century was to compile and print catalogues or price lists of the graphic works they sold with the promotional intent of advertising them, uphold orders and obtain subscriptions. Piranesi did not limit himself to a common written catalogue but even published an illustrated one, better known as the engraved catalogue, which he issued for the first time in 1761. This happened in the circumstance of his moving to new premises at the Tomati Palace. The first catalogue included the list of the fifty-nine views belonging to the collection Vedute di Roma, which he had created up to then, together with an inventory of other published books that featured his prints. This catalogue was constantly updated by adding new items that were put on sale, giving rise to a number of different states, of which 36 are currently known.

The engraved catalogue is of primary importance for the dating of Piranesi's works, an essential means of study and research as the analysis of its states allows the approximate chronological classification of all of the artist's later works. When creating this work, which is correctly considered as another of his masterpieces, Piranesi focused his studies on its decorative aspects. He used the same technique that can be found in some of his books, creating a trompe-l'oeil effect on an architectural background, depicting pins which seemed to fasten a number of cartouches with titles pertaining to his works. The foreground consisted of ruins and sculptural fragments while an additional white space was included on purpose to allow for the addition of new items in the future. The items included in this catalogue are considerably rarer than Piranesi's other engraving, probably because they were printed in a smaller number, as well as for the reason that they were considered as short-lived promotional material, and therefore were not preserved. Some of these bear dedications to the artist's friends and benefactors, while, on other ones, pen-written notes enumerating the latest items, often by the artist's own hand, can be seen.

Extremely rare example of the Piranesi’s Catalogo delle Opere. Robison describes only three examples of this issue.

Bibliografia

Andrew Robison, Piranesi’s Catalogo delle Opere, in The Burlington Magazine, n. 164 (2022), pp. 230-245, XXII/XXXVI; H. Focillon, Giovan Battista Piranesi 1720-1778 (1918): n. 1; A. M. Hind, Giovanni Battista Piranesi. A critical study with a list of his published works and detailed catalogues of the Prisons and Views of Rome (1922): p. 6; cf. K. Meyer-Haunton in Piranesi, Incisioni, Rami, Legature, Architetture.