Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Born 1720) was born in Mestre, near Venice, and he in 1778 in Rome, Papal States. He was a renowned printmaker, draftsman, art theorist and architect. His large scale art depict the buildings of postclassical and classical Rome and its surrounding area contributed significantly to the fame of Rome and to the classical archaeology’s growth of and to the Neoclassical art movement. In 1740, he moved to Rome where he became the draftsman for the ambassador of Venice. Piranesi studied with top printmakers of his time and permanently settled in Rome in 1745. In the course of his work during this time, Piranesi developed his etching technique which was highly original. Using this technique, he produced bold contrasts and rich textures of shadow and light by means of repeated, intricate of the copperplate bitings.
The artist managed to create more than two thousand plates in his lifetime He inspired all architects and artists. Yet, architects in Italy were not the initiators of international Neoclassicism but were its followers. Piranesi was one of the most important determining influences on the movement. His etchings of the ruins of Rome transformed those historic fragments into inspiring idealistic compositions. The artist was in the front position of Roman activity. He received several awards for his outstanding works. His unparalleled keenness to detail and accuracy in the depiction of his subjects, combined with his personal expression of the dramatic structures and romantic grandeur, together with his technical mastery made his art to be among the most impressive and original representations.
