The Girandola at the Castel Sant'Angelo

Designed and hand colored by Louis Jean Desprez French
 Etched by Francesco Piranesi Italian

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.

The Girandola at the Castel Sant'Angelo, Designed and hand colored by Louis Jean Desprez (French, Auxerre 1743–1804 Stockholm), Etching with hand-coloring

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.

The Girandola at the Castel Sant'Angelo, Designed and hand colored by Louis Jean Desprez (French, Auxerre 1743–1804 Stockholm), Etching with hand-coloring
The Girandola at the Castel Sant'Angelo, Designed and hand colored by Louis Jean Desprez (French, Auxerre 1743–1804 Stockholm), Etching with hand-coloring

This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.