Catalogo delle opere date finora alla luce da Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Etching with engraving, circa 1761, signed on plate at upper left.

Example in the third state of thirty-six described in Andrew Robison's very recent essay (March 2022) dated 1761. Compared to the second state of the Catalogo, the following changes appear: the presence among the Vedute di Roma of the view of the Pantheon (Del Pantheon, paoli tre); the series of the Carceri has been completed and includes 16 plates on sale for 20 paoli; the Trofei di Ottaviano consist of 10 sheets on sale for 23 paoli.

Only nine impressions from this issue of the Catalogo (including this example) are known to Robison.

Magnificent proof, printed with dark ink on contemporary laid paper without watermark, wide margins, in excellent conditions.

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.

Exceptionally and extremely rare example of the Piranesi’s Catalogo delle Opere.

Bibliografia

Andrew Robison, Piranesi’s Catalogo delle Opere, in The Burlington Magazine, n. 164 (2022), pp. 230-245, III/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.