Giovanni Battista Piranesi

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Giovanni Battista Piranesi

1720-1778

Design for a Horizontal Panel with Trophies and Insignia of the Rezzonico Family, for Santa Maria del Priorato

ca. 1764-1766

Pen and brown ink, over black chalk, on paper.

8 1/2 x 14 15/16 inches (216 x 379 mm)

Bequest of Junius S. Morgan and gift of Henry S. Morgan.

1966.11:54

Notes:

This is Piranesi's design for the central stele in the piazza outside the gates of Santa Maria del Priorato. The trophies signify the military prowess of the Knights of Malta, while the tower at center is taken from the coat of arms of Giambattista Rezzonico, Prior of the Knights and Piranesi's patron in the work.

Inscription:

Inscribed within design, with measurements in palmi romani, in pen and brown ink; at lower center, "p 9 3/4"; at right edge, "p 5 5/12"; numbered at upper right, in graphite, "4".

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.

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:

Denison, Cara, Myra Nan Rosenfeld, and Stephanie Wiles. Exploring Rome : Piranesi and His Contemporaries. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library; Montréal : Centre Canadien d'Architecture, 1993, no. 36, repr.

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Piranesi, Giovanni Battista

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