The Skeletons

Currently not on view

The Skeletons

c. 1747

Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian, 1720–1778)

The term "grottesco" originated from the late-fifteenth-century discovery of ancient paintings in the underground chambers, or grottoes, beneath the streets of Rome. Initially the term referred to a type of painting, but it gradually came to describe any work of a phantasmagoric or eerie nature. Piranesi invokes the idea of the antique grotto in this grottesco of a decaying, subterranean world filled with skeletons, broken vases, columns, sculptures, and scrolling ornaments.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

The Skeletons
From the series Grotteschi (Rome: Giovanni Battista Piranesi, c. 1760-61)

Date:

c. 1747

Artist:

Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian, 1720–1778)

Medium:

Etching with engraving and drypoint

Dimensions:

Plate: 15 7/16 x 21 1/4 inches (39.2 x 54 cm) Sheet: 18 1/2 x 24 1/2 inches (47 x 62.2 cm)

Classification:

Prints

Credit Line:

Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Robert M. Walker, 1973

Accession Number:

1973-137-1

Geography:

Made in Italy, Europe

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Currently not on view