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Giovanni Battista Piranesi

View of the pyramidal Tomb of Cestius (Veduta del Sepolcro di Cajo Cestio), 1755

Description

Maker

Title

View of the pyramidal Tomb of Cestius (Veduta del Sepolcro di Cajo Cestio)

Year

1755

Medium

Etching on paper

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Supports

Dimensions

Plate: 40.8 x 54.3 cm (16 1/16 x 21 3/8 inches)

Type

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Jesse H. Metcalf

Object Number

16.593

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

The Theatre That Was Rome

April 9 - July 11, 2004

Piranesi made four etchings of this very popular monument of Roman antiquity, the pyramidal tomb of Caius Cestius, an official during the reign of emperor Augustus (27 BCE-14 CE). Built before the year 12 BCE, the tomb became incorporated into the ancient Aurelian Wall surrounding the city, and it was restored in 1663. Piranesi shows the perfect geometry of the pyramid while using the texture of the stonework on the sides to present the tomb as a magnificent but weather-beaten survivor of the ages, emphasizing his concern for the care of the city’s antiquities.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is View of the pyramidal Tomb of Cestius (Veduta del Sepolcro di Cajo Cestio) with the accession number of 16.593. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.