29 April 1778 Wednesday
Vases, Candelabra, Grave Stones, Sarcophagi. Tripods, Lamps and Ancient Ornaments volume II
To the Noble Man Mr. Giambattista Collicola Montioni Foriere Maggiore
Dei Sagri Palazzi Apostolici Lover of the fine arts
In deed of respect the Cav. Gio. Batt(ist)a Piranesi D. D. D.
This Table represents one of the two grandiose Ares, completely similar in all their parts, and also equal in their size. They were found in Albano in the Villa of Pompeo Magno. These are dedicated to Apollo, all the more so as to see the Lyre carved in them, on which a Hypogriff rests with its paw in the place indicated by Let.a A. The Bacchantes B indicate, as if they were dancing around the altar of this Deity These two ares are designed with particular taste. Between the main Columns we see others arranged in symmetry, one of the Ionic Order, and the other opposite of the Doric Order. Every work is diligently carved, and nothing is overlooked. The upper part C is hollowed out, to receive the Bronze Hearth, which was placed for the Sagrificii. These macaws were once seen in Albano; at present they are in the Museum of the Author.
Cav. Piranesi F.
24-25 y.o. Francesco Piranesi 1783
Collezione delle piu belle statue di Roma
Harpocrates or Gold Egyptian God of Silence and agriculture with the lotus flower on his head, the finger on his lip and the cornucopia in his left hand. Greek work unearthed in Hadrian's Villa, now in the Capitoline Museum
To Mr. Marcello de Bacciarelli first Painter, and Director of Cabinet Paintings of H.M. the King of Poland, and Member of the Fine Arts.
Francesco Piranesi D.D.D.
Tomasso Piroli drawn Francesco Piranesi engraver of S.M. the King of Poland 1783.
29 April 1812 Wednesday
Morning light clouds, wind Eerly. Temperature 48°. The air from the sea raw. Clouds occasionally dropping rain. Temperature rose to 58°. I go to town this evening to meet the Com.. of the Northern Turnpike Road and the do some other business. I mean to set off at 5--reached town before 7. Met PS Duponeau, J Reed and B Tilghman at the house of the last and arranged the advertisements for opening books of subscription, after which I went to Judge Rush's to acknowledge deeds to J & B Price, and to T Palmer jun[?] he had retired to bed an hour before. I left a note for him. --and got to SL's before 10.
29 April 1998
Campo Marzio - new discoveries
...St. Peter's Basilica and Square match exactly the outline of the Porticus Neronianae and the Temple and Area of Mars complex. The piazza of St. Peter's matches the dimensions of the Area Martis, the Temple of Mars fits within the forecourt of St. Peter's, and the nave and transept crossing of the Neronian Porticus falls right in line with the crossing of St. Peter's. ...so exact, and unquestionably deliberate on Piranesi's part. ...firmly locks the analysis of the life and death axes.
The other discovery deals with the horti Luciliani and the horti Lucullani.
Piranesi places the fictitious horti Luciliani where the horti Lucullani ought to be, and places the horti Lucullani at a location further north.
It is the horti Lucullani that Messalena murdered for.
Lucilius is the father of Roman satire. Is there anything satirical in Piranesi's plan of the garden? Perhaps the answer has something to do with a shrine to Minerva being in the center of one of the building complexes--literally "wisdom" (but also "weaving") in the center of a garden of satire. The theater and salons, now make more sense.
satire 1 a : an ancient Roman commentary in verse on some prevailing vise of folly b : a usually topical literary composition holding up human or individual vices, folly, abuses, or shortcomings to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other method sometimes with an intent to bring about c : LAMPOON 2 a : a branch of literature ridiculing vice or folly
censure 1 : a judgement involving condemnation a : spiritual chastisement by an ecclesiastical agency
wit implies intellectual brilliance and quickness in perception combined with a gift for expressing ideas in an entertaining, often laughter provoking, pointed way, usually connoting the unexpected or apt turn of phrase or idea and often suggesting a certain brittle unfeelingness
satire can apply to any criticism or censure relying on exposure, often by irony and often subtle, of the ridiculous or absurd qualities of something
The notion of Piranesi being satirical himself throughout the Ichnographia is an intriguing idea.
...the various other gardens and buildings that Piranesi places on the same plateau as the horti Lucullani. Some of them, like the horti Narcissi, relate directly to the Messalena story since it is the freedman Narcissus that ultimately kills Messalena. There is also the horti Anteri--Anteros means "an avenger of slighted love," which describes both Messalena and her husband the emperor Claudius, although for different reasons.
...Tafuri could have said so much more about the horti Luciliani.
connection between Rossi and Piranesi
I just realized that the St. Peter's - Area Martis overlay is just the same as the Modena Cemetery - Bustum Hadriani connection
29 April 2001
Quaestio Abstrusa background 275
Quaestio Abstrusa background 278
Quaestio Abstrusa background 280
29 April 2005
Sexual Architecture??
Ledoux's proposed plan for a brothel for Chaux, which reenacts part of Piranesi's plan of the Bustum Caesaris Augusti within the Ichnographia Campus Martius.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Bustum Caesaris Augusti within the Ichnographia Campus Martius, 1757-62
 
left: Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, Maison de Plaisir, c. 1789
right: Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, Oikèma, 1789
29 April 2006
paris 2054
But Piranesi... ...drew a whole city and delivered an astounding narrative within said drawing of a whole city--yes, drawing a whole city and 'writing' a story at the same time. It's called Ichnographia Campus Martius.
29 April 2008
the state of drawing in education
One of the things I like about drawing with CAD is that it's easy to design differently.
29 April 2023 Saturday
. . . . . .
|