Piranesi, Paestum and Soane

An eighteenth century printmaker and architect, Giovanni Battista Piranesi was a lifelong champion of Rome, publishing more than a thousand etchings of The Eternal City and its ancient monuments. Piranesi's English contemporary, Sir John Soane, was also an architect specializing in the Neo-Classical style. When these two artists met, they formed a profound and complex artistic and intellectual relationship that nurtured Soane's later career. One of Soane's greatest legacies is the museum that bears his name and some of its most important holdings are a number of preparatory drawings Piranesi developed for a publication on the Greek temples at Paestum. These drawings are accomplished examples of Piranesi's topographical observation and great works of art in their own right. This book offers exquisite reproductions of the drawings as well as 30 additional images from Piranesi's oeuvre. Together they offer a unique understanding of early Greek classical architecture seen through the work of an eighteenth century master.