Giovanni Battista Piranesi

This and Morgan drawing inv. 1966.11:103 are preliminary sketches for a clock and sconces that appear in related plates of Piranesi's Diverse Maniere. In the publication, the clock (1966.11:103) is shown beside a timepiece made for Abbondio Rezzonico, while the sconces appear in plate 63 (f. 923) above a table made for Giambattista Rezzonico's apartment in the Quirinal Palace, of which examples survive at the Rijksmuseum and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. This suggests that Piranesi may have intended to produce actual objects corresponding to more the drawings, although none is known to have been executed. Regardless, the sketches represent Piranesi's use of natural forms in design, which he stressed were complementary to forms derived from ancient art.