PIRANESI, Giovanni Battista
(b. 1720, Mestre, d. 1778, Roma)

Carceri d'Invenzione

1749-50
Etching
Various collections

Piranesi's early and most famous series of plates, the Carceri d'Invenzione were first issued in 1745 and re-etched in 1760-61. They are romantic phantasmagorias derived from Baroque opera sets.