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The Girandola at the Castel Sant'Angelo

Designed and hand colored by Louis Jean Desprez French
Etched by Francesco Piranesi Italian
n.d.
Not on view
From 1471, the papacy sponsored a spectacular fireworks display called the Girandola at the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome, the papal fortress originally constructed as the mausoleum of the emperor Hadrian. Every year at Easter, on the eve of the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (June 28) and whenever a new pope was elected the fireworks would be staged.
This remarkable print, designed and hand-colored by Louis-Jean Desprez and etched by Francesco Piranesi (son of the more famous Giovanni Battista) depicts the Girandola from a vantage on the opposite bank of the Tiber. In the foreground, spectators watch from carriages and a canopied viewing stand. Animated crowds populate the dramatically foreshortened Ponte Sant'Angelo, and the explosion of the rockets illuminating the night sky dominates the upper half of the sheet.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Girandola at the Castel Sant'Angelo
  • Artist: Designed and hand colored by Louis Jean Desprez (French, Auxerre 1743–1804 Stockholm)
  • Artist: Etched by Francesco Piranesi (Italian, Rome 1758–1810 Paris)
  • Date: n.d.
  • Medium: Etching with hand-coloring
  • Dimensions: sheet: 27 3/4 x 19 1/8 in. (70.5 x 48.6 cm)
    mat: 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1969
  • Object Number: 69.510
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Antoine de Chézy, Louis Jean Desprez French, Etching
Antoine de Chézy
Louis Jean Desprez
ca. 1772–76
The Capture of Selinus by Hannibal, Louis Jean Desprez French, Etching and aquatint with drypoint, state II/II
The Capture of Selinus by Hannibal
Louis Jean Desprez
n.d.
Tomb with Death Enthroned as a Sphinx, Louis Jean Desprez French, Etching and aquatint, printed in brown ink, ii/ii
Tomb with Death Enthroned as a Sphinx
Louis Jean Desprez
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Ancient Scene with a Funeral Ceremony for an Actor, Louis Jean Desprez French, Pen and black ink and watercolor
Ancient Scene with a Funeral Ceremony for an Actor
Louis Jean Desprez
Louis Félix de La Rue
ca. 1777
Design for the Decoration of the Altar to be erected during the Holy Week, Dedicated to Monseigneur Christophe de Beaumont, Archbishop of Paris, Louis Jean Desprez French, Etching
Design for the Decoration of the Altar to be erected during the Holy Week, Dedicated to Monseigneur Christophe de Beaumont, Archbishop of Paris
Louis Jean Desprez
1769

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