Raccolta De' Tempi Antichi Opera Di Francesco Piranesi Architetto Romano Prima Parte Che Comprende I Tempi Di Vesta Madre, Ossia Della Terra, E Della Sibilla, Ambedue In Tivoli, E Dell'Onore, E Della Virtu Fuori Di Porta Capena
In Roma: Presso l'Autore a Capo le Case in Strada Felice Palazzo Tomati., (1780).
Physical Description
[iv], 24, [ii], 10 p., add. engr. t.-pl. (dble.), 13, 8 pl. (12 dble.); 550 mm. (Quarto.)
General Note
In some copies the eight plates of the second group carry no numbers.
Contents
[T.p., add. t.pl., dedic.] - Prefazione Agli Amatori Delle Belle Arti, E Delle Antichità - Dichiarazione Sopra Il Tempio Antico Di Vesta ... In Tivoli - Dichiarazione Del Vero Tempio Della Sibilla - [Plates I-XIII] - Tempio Dell'Onore E Della Virtu ...; [Notice of Part II; Imprimaturs; Colophon] - [Plates I-VIII].
Responsibility Note
All plates are signed as drawn and engraved by Francesco Piranesi.
The printer is named in the colophon: 'Nella Stamperia Salomoni'.
The work is dedicated by Francesco Piranesi to Pope Pius VI.
References
National Gallery (Washington), Mark J. Millard Architectural, IV (2000), no. 74; Royal Institute Of British Architecture, British Architectural Library ... Early printed, 3 (1999), no. 2546. C. Gasparri, 'La galleria Piranesi da Giovan Battista a Francesco', in Xenia, 3 (1982), 91-107.
Summary Note
The publication-date of 1780 is given by the imprimatur and the added engraved title-plate.
After Giovanni Battista Piranesi's death in 1778 his son Francesco continued to publish his father's works, and began to produce his own, of which this Raccolta De' Tempi Antichi was the first.
The first two temples described here are believed to have been built in Tivoli in the 2nd century B.C. The round Temple of Vesta is also known as the Temple of the Sybil and church of S. Maria della Rotonda; the 'vero Tempio della Sibilla' is also known as the temple of Tiburnus and church of St George. The third temple, 'Tempio dell'Onore e della Virtu' in Rome, became the church of S. Urbanus 'alla Caffarella'.
The plates show elevations, sections, plans and architectural details. Plate VI shows a Corinthian capital of the temple of Vesta, of a type imitated by Sir John Soane in the Tivoli corner of the Bank of England, London, 1805.
A second volume of this work, on a fourth temple, the Pantheon, is implied in the added engraved title-plate - which reads 'Sciographia Quatuor Templum Veterum' and is dominated by a view of the Pantheon - and is announced on the last page of text; but it was not published until 1790.
Provenance
Acquired between 1780 and 1802. Recorded in Catalogue Of The Library In The Royal Academy, London (1802).
Binding Note
20th-century half calf, marbled boards; green morocco spine-label lettered 'Piranesi Raccolta De' Tempi Antichi', spine lettered 'R.A.'
Subject
Temples, Roman - Architecture, Roman - Architecture details - Italy - Lazio - Tivoli - Temple of Vesta (Tivoli) - Temple of the Sibyl (Tivoli) - Rome - Temple of Honour (Rome) - History
Plans - Elevations - Sections - Views - Vedute - Italy - 18th century
Pictorial works - Italy - 18th century