Invenzioni Capric di Carceri; Hind 7, First State of Three Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian, Venetian, 1720-1778). , ca. 1749. Etching on laid paper, 21 3/4 x 16 1/8 in. ( x 41 cm). Around 1749–50 Giovanni Battista Piranesi published an ambitious series of fourteen large etchings known as The Imaginary Prisons. These plates depict vast, labyrinthine spaces spanned by vaults and arches, crossed by seemingly endless staircases, and filled with hooks, chains, and ropes that suggest machines of torture. The enormous chambers dwarf the mysterious figures that populate them, evoking an oppre
Invenzioni Capric di Carceri; Hind 7, First State of Three Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian, Venetian, 1720-1778). , ca. 1749. Etching on laid paper, 21 3/4 x 16 1/8 in. ( x 41 cm). Around 1749–50 Giovanni Battista Piranesi published an ambitious series of fourteen large etchings known as The Imaginary Prisons. These plates depict vast, labyrinthine spaces spanned by vaults and arches, crossed by seemingly endless staircases, and filled with hooks, chains, and ropes that suggest machines of torture. The enormous chambers dwarf the mysterious figures that populate them, evoking an oppressive and unrelenting atmosphere of privation and despair. Piranesi was trained as an architect, and the design of his fantastical dungeons was informed by his knowledge of ancient Roman ruins. Classical architecture was a symbol of Western civilization and its achievements, but here, it represents something dark and irrational. The human agency so valued by Enlightenment principles appears crushed within an impersonal and ominous universe. Piranesi’s experience with theatrical set design was likely another source of inspiration for him. In turn, echoes of his prisons’ limitless, confusing spaces can be found in productions up to the present day, including the movies Metropolis, Blade Runner, and Inception, as well as the moving staircase of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films. The plates for the rarer first edition—seen here—were only lightly etched by Piranesi, allowing the freedom and spontaneity of his drawing to emerge. Titus Kaphar: thing that’s interesting to me about thinking about our own prison industrial complex, is these spaces are way too small. For the number of individuals that we have in prison today, this would be The other thing is they are architectural. There’s an expression of value in the aesthetics of the prison itself. We don’t do that. We built them big. We built them fast. We built them The other th
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