ITALIAN SCHOOL OF ENGRAVING. 



Vimited freedom of hand, and as if " out of the abundance 

 of hre heart." 



Trees do not often occur in the prints of Piranefi, but 

 v.-hen they do, tJiey in mod inftances too much refemble fea- 

 weed : yet the wild rasrgednefs and ur,cxpected forms which 

 charafterize both thefe and the clouds which float over liis 

 landfcapes — and even his ill-drawn figures— have a certain a!» 

 of cntcrpri/^, which accords with the forceful and chivalrous 

 charafter of his chiarofcuro, and rather augments than di- 

 minifhes, the general fentiment of romantic magnificence, 

 which many of his compohtions, and more efpccially the 

 large frontifpieces which fold into liis large folios, in- 

 fpire. 



In fome of the latter, all the grand architeftural forms of 

 Egypt, Greece, and Italy, appear to be affembled, as if 

 by magic, and the mind of the fpeftator iiled to wander, in 

 jioctic reverie, through irregular avenues of obeliiks, larco- 

 phagi, pyramids, columns, and triumphal arches. In 

 others, which are of fubterraneous character, the au'.hor 

 appears to have penetrated the cemeteries of departed grcat- 

 nefs, and here, monlirous and forbiddtn thir.gs, are crawling 

 atid twining their fiimy convohitions among moulderi;ig 

 bones, broken fculpture, and mutilated infcriptions, and an 

 air of danknefs and dilapidation, and fepiilchral gloom, is dif- 

 fjfed through the cavern, as if Time and Envy were beckon- 

 ing to Oblivion, to break down whit remained of the tro- 

 piues of the brave, and obliterate the wifdom of the wife. 



In his technical procefs, Piranefi was the firft engraver 

 who made free apd abundant ufe of the ruler, as may be 

 feen in his interiors of S". Peter's cathedral, his antique 

 ▼afes, and fuch other fubjefts as required it, or as admitted 

 It only in certain parts ; for he fometimes artfully contrafted, 

 M the fame plate, tlie wildell fallies of the etching-point, in 

 the broken or wea her-ftained parts of his lights, with ruled 

 paffages in his fhadows, where the utm«ill regularity and 

 {jcrfpicuity were prefervcd. Thought always accompanies 

 his deeds, even where he feems moll carelefs. The i " flex 

 lights of a bright climate might feemj to the inconfiderate in 

 a humid one, to partake ot flimly tranfparency. In the 

 works of Piranefi, ihey (hev/ the juiliicfs of his obfervation. 

 If he was llimulated by an adventurous fpirit, he was re- 

 ♦Iraincd by judicious caution, which fjt fo eaty on him, that 

 he exerted it without the lead feeming cffurt. In (liort, with 

 the (kill and conduft of a brave general, it was his to vary 

 and adapt his mode cf execution, and qualify his prowefs, by 

 the nature of theoccafion which called it forth : he ufed the 

 graver with boldncf? when he did ufe it, but ufed it only as 

 an auxiliary to his etching. He knew that t'liis was the main 

 body of his native force, on which he could moft depend. 

 He douhtlefs felt that he was here the Alexander of his 

 art, and that none could here, with any hope of fucccfs, dif- 

 p'.ite with him for the palm of victory. 



To fpeak of the works of this artilt in detail, would ii 1 a 

 volume : it mull therefore here fufiice to fay, that among the 

 beft of them \vill be found the frontifpieces or title pages to 

 his large volumes of Italian antiquities, confilHng, for the 

 jnoll part, of very rich compofitions, formed of the frag- 

 ments and monuments of antiquity. Soviral views of the 

 Colifeum and arches of C<;::ilanUne and Septimius Sevcrus, 

 at Rome ; the pyramid of Cellius, with other Roman anti- 

 quities ; the tomb of Cecilin Metclla, on the Appian way ; 

 t-lie fountain of Bernini, with the furro in.hng edifices ; the 

 fa5ade of the BafiUcum of St. Mary, with other buildings ; 

 ditto of St. Lorenzo on the 'i'lburtinian wav ; (an admira- 

 ble mixture of regular with irregular mode of execution, in 

 tie treatment of the architcfture ;) interior and exterior 

 views of die I'antl^eon of Agrippa ;. 4 ycry large and mag- 



nificent view of the Sybil's temple at Tivoli ; another vieiv 

 of the fame temple, fomewhat fma'ler ; another, with the 

 cafcade at Tivoli ; the bridge and callle of St. Angelo ; 

 the Ponte Mola ; the fquare of the Capitol ; the fquare of 

 Monte Cavallo ; the grand fountain of Trevi, and the tem- 

 ple of Jupiter Tonans ; all of large folio dimenfions, and 

 fome of them fo large as to fold into his imperial folios. 



Francifco Piranefi was the fon of Giovanni Battilla, and 

 was born at Rome in the year 1748. He became an en- 

 graver of landfcape and ruined buildings, in v.hicli he imi- 

 tated the ftyle of his father, but, Lke other followers, was 

 always behind, though his engravings of this kind polfefs fo 

 much merit, that were his father's works annihilated, he 

 would be entitled to hold rather an high rank in his profef- 

 fion. Francifco did not, however, oonfine the exercife of 

 his talents to landfcape and architefture, but engraved fe- 

 vcral plates of the celebrated tlatucs of antiquity. He drew 

 the human figure better tlian his father, but in his treatment 

 of the antique was ft ill an imitator, following, with much 

 devotion, the llyle of engraving of Pitteri, of whom we fiiall 

 prefently ipeak. 



Among the beft of his prints are views of the Colifeum, 

 the Pantheon the baths of Sal'uft, the baths of Dioclefian, 

 and the teniple of Ifis at Pompeia, ail in large folio ; and in 

 very large folio, tlie illumination of the chapel of Pauhna, 

 in St. Peter's cathedral ; and among his ftatues the follow- 

 ing are entitled to refpeitful notice, vi-. the fitting Ju- 

 piter of the Mufeum Clemcntinum, the Venus de Medicis, 

 the group of Cupid and Pfyche, frem the gallery of the 

 Capitol, and Oreftes recognized by Eleftra, millakenly called 

 by fome the young Papirius and his mother, from the ori- 

 ginal fculpture in the Villa Ludovifa, all of large folio dimen- 

 fions. 



Laura Piranefi, was the filler of the preceding artift, witli 

 whom (he equally dillinguifned herfeif by engraving : the 

 following views a:e by her hand, viz. the Capitol of Rome, 

 the bridge of Salario, the temple of Peac«, and the arch ot 

 Septimius Severus, all of 410. fize. 



Giovanni-Marco Pitteri, was born at Venice A. D. 170J, 

 and died in the fame city in 17(17. ^^'^ lludied engraving 

 for a (hort time under Jol'. Baroni, whom, he foon quitted for 

 J. A. Faldoni. The works of this admirable artill are exe- 

 cuted in a very remarkable (lyle, with fingle courfes of hnes, 

 though very differently difpofed from tlr fe of Mellan and 

 his followers. They run perpend cularly from the top to the 

 bottom of the plate, and the (liadows are exprelitd by 

 tlrcnglhening them as occafion required. The effeCl lie has 

 produced in this new mode of engraving is fa- more pleafing 

 and harmonious than could have been expcfted, elpecialiy 

 where, by partially notching his hnes, he has imparted llony 

 charafter and richnefs, to fuch parts of his pr.nts as required 

 it. This artill, being always occupied with engraving, never 

 travelled out of his native place. 



Among his works, the following are moft worthy of 

 notice. 



IV hole-length Portraits and Heads, all in large Folio.— A 

 buft of h mfelf, from Piazzetta ; a bull of J. B. Piaz- 

 zetta, a Venetian painter ; Charles Goldini, a Venetian 

 comic poet ; John Mocenigo, a Venetian nobleman ; Jo- 

 feph Nogari, a Venetian painter, with his hand on the 

 hilt of his fword ; and a young lady relling her head o»i 

 her hand, all from the fame painter ; count dc Schulen- 

 bourg, fie'd-marfnal of the republic of Venice, from C. 1' . 

 Rufca ; cardinal Quirini, marquis Sc; :o Maffei, Clara Ifa- 

 btlla Fornari ; and a fet of her>ds on lixtern i>lates, which are 

 prefumptuoudyentitled Gcdtli- eternal Father! our Saviour, 

 iLe Virgin Mary, the twelve ap«illesj and St. Paul, all froi-.i 

 ■ Piazzetta, 



