Piranesi: Extraordinary Fellow, Madman, Sublime Dreamer, Inventive Genius

Giovanni Battista Piranesi was an artist like no other. Working as an architect, printmaker, polemicist, archaeologist, interior designer, and art dealer, he created works that even today define our notions of Ancient and Modern Rome, and which helped establish a taste for Neoclassical design that spread across Europe. His powers of invention were prodigious, and his influence enormous—maddeningly so for some of his contemporaries. This lecture will survey Piranesi’s fantastic inventions, exploring the process of their creation and their lasting legacy. 

John Marciari is the Director of Curatorial Affairs and the Head of the Department of Drawings and Prints at the Morgan Library & Museum, where he was responsible for the 2023 exhibition and catalogue Sublime Ideas: Drawings by Giovanni Battista Piranesi.