Della Magnificenza e d'Architettura de' Romani (On the Grandeur and the Architecture of the Romans by Gio. Battista Piranesi, Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of London)
Giovanni Battista Piranesi Italian
Domenico Cunego Italian
Not on view
Giovanni Battista Piranesi's 'Della Magnificenza e d'Architettura de' Romani' was a contribution to the continuing debate as to whether Greek art and architecture was superior to that of Rome. In the 1750s, intellectual circles were increasingly in favor of Greece. Piranesi had completed 'Le Antichità Romane' in 1756-1757 and when Julien-David Le Roy published 'Les ruines des plus beaux monuments de la Grece' in 1758, Piranesi responded with Della Magnificenza. In his publication Piranesi argues in favor of Roman architectural ornament by drawing comparisons with specific examples from Le Roy's text. This is why many of the plates in this volume contain visual and text references to Le Roy.
Also in this volume is Piranesi's response to the French critic Pierre-Jean Mariette (1694-1774). On November 4 1764, Mariette published a letter in the Gazette Littéraire de l'Europe, in which he argues against the ideas expressed in Della Magnificenza. Mariette considered Roman art to have Greek origins. Piranesi's response to his views was published in 1765, in which writing in the third person, he defends the artistic originality of the Romans.
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