The Skeletons

Prints and Drawings

1750

Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Italian, 1720-1778

This print is one of four grotesques (decorative fantasies) included in Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s popular series of architectural views of Rome and its surroundings. This kind of composition was inspired by Roman wall decorations discovered during the Renaissance and was meant to incorporate dissimilar elements in a whimsical and ornamental manner. This particular etching includes, among other things, a back view of the often-copied Farnese Hercules, a large zodiac wheel partly visible at the upper right, and various fragmentary skeletons adorned with tufts of wavy hair.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Prints and Drawings

Artist: Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Title: The Skeletons
Place: Italy (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1750
Medium: Etching on heavy ivory laid paper
Dimensions: Image: 38.9 × 54.2 cm (15 3/8 × 21 3/8 in.); Plate: 39.3 × 54.7 cm (15 1/2 × 21 9/16 in.); Sheet: 59 × 80.7 cm (23 1/4 × 31 13/16 in.)
Credit Line: The Art Institute of Chicago
Reference Number: 1922.5606
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/7385/manifest.json

Hind p. 80 #24

Robison 21

Wilton-Ely 21

Ficacci 105

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Department

Artist

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Dimensions

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Reference Number

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.