Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Watermark: Fleur-de-lis inside circle, surmounted by letters "ACC", with letter "F" below circle, centered on chain line. Same as watermark on 1966.11:6 Watermark
This drawing is part of a series of studies that Piranesi made for the Monumental Tablet plate in his Grotteschi. He adopted the curling parchment and energetic hatched lines of an earlier study (Morgan drawing 1966.111:8) and added the scythe, architectural elements, spatial ambiguity, and claustrophobic intensity that remain in the final print. While related to his Venetian-style drawings, this sheet is on central Italian paper and was almost certainly executed after Piranesi returned to Rome in September 1747. The figure study on the verso is one of only a handful of drawing by Piranesi after nude studio models.