Giovanni Battista Piranesi

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Giovanni Battista Piranesi
1720-1778
Design for a Wall Panel of a Rococo Shield with Sconces at Either Side
ca. 1746-47
Pen and black ink and wash, over black chalk, on laid paper; framing line in pen and brown ink.
11 9/16 x 9 5/16 inches (293 x 237 mm)
Bequest of Junius S. Morgan and gift of Henry S. Morgan.
1966.11:11
Notes: 

One of a series of wall panel or mirror frame designs created by Piranesi during his time in Venice from 1745-47. His early biographer Jacques-Guillaume Legrand relates that Piranesi executed some interior decoration work during this time, but nothing is thought to survive.

Inscription: 

Watermark: Bow and arrow. Briquet 738. Same as watermark on 1966.11:9, 1966.11:10 and 1966.11:12.

Provenance: 
Mrs. J.P. Morgan, New York; by descent to her sons Junius S. Morgan, Princeton and Paris (no mark, see Lugt 1536) and Henry S. Morgan, New York.
Watermark: 
Associated names: 

Morgan, Jane Norton, 1868-1925, former owner.
Morgan, Junius Spencer, 1892-1960, former owner.
Morgan, Henry S. (Henry Sturgis), 1900-1982, former owner.

Bibliography: 

Stampfle, Felice. Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Dover, 1978, no. 11, repr.

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