The Pyramid of Gaius Cestius, from Views of Rome
1750/59, published 1800–07
Medium
Etching on heavy ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 38.7 × 53.1 cm (15 1/4 × 20 15/16 in.); Plate: 39.2 × 53.6 cm (15 7/16 × 21 1/8 in.); Sheet: 47.5 × 60.9 cm (18 3/4 × 24 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
48215
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
One of two Piranesi engravings of the Pyramid of Cestius, this etching was published posthumously by the artist’s sons. The pyramid was essential viewing for many who undertook the Grand Tour in the 18th and 19th centuries. Constructed c. 18 b.c./c. 12 b.c. as a tomb for the powerful Roman magistrate Gaius Cestius, the marble-clad structure is reminiscent of the Roman fad for all things Egyptian. In fact, the similarity of the tomb to the pyramids of Nubia suggests that Cestius served on a milit...
About the Artist
Giovanni Battista Piranesi · 1720–1778
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–1778) was an Italian printmaker, architect, and antiquarian whose visionary etchings of Rome and imaginary prisons revolutionized architectural representation and profoundly influenced both Neoclassicism and Romanticism. Piranesi stands as one of the most important printmakers of the eighteenth century, fundamentally shaping European perceptions of ancient Rome an...