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The Girandola at the Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome

Designed and hand colored by Louis Jean Desprez French
Etched by Francesco Piranesi Italian
ca. 1781–1784
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 690
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 provenance of the print is uncertain. There are no inscriptions on the print to identify Lord St Clarire or Mackintosh as its previous owners. This information probably came when the Museum acquired the piece. Chales Mackintosh is mentioned in the Catalogue Raisonné by Nils G. Wollin (1933). This possibly refers to Charles Renni Mackintosh (died 1928)

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Girandola at the Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome
  • 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: ca. 1781–1784
  • 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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The Chimera (La Chimère de Monsieur Desprez), Louis Jean Desprez French, Etching
The Chimera (La Chimère de Monsieur Desprez)
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Harpsichord, Michele Todini , designer Italian, Wood, gilt, ebony, ivory, parchment, Italian (Roman)
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ca. 1787

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