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Giovanni Battista Piranesi
1720-1778
Sketch for a Chimneypiece with Tablets and Figures
ca. 1764-1767
Pen and brown ink, over red chalk, on paper.
2 3/4 x 4 3/4 inches (70 x 121 mm)
Bequest of Junius S. Morgan and gift of Henry S. Morgan.
1966.11:91
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Notes:
Although this sketch does not truly correspond to any of the plates of Piranesi's "Diverse Maniere," the figure on the jamb at right might be considered a preliminary idea for the jambs of the Egyptian-style design of plate 10 in that work.
The verso contains a fragment of price list, not in Piranesi's hand.
On same mat as 1966.11:87; 88; 90.
Inscription:
Numbered at lower left, in graphite, "89".
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:
Stampfle, Felice. Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Dover, 1978, no. 91, repr.
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