Indiana University Indiana University IU

Browse the collection

Imaginary Sepulcral Chamber

Artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian, October 4, 1720–November 9, 1778)
Title Imaginary Sepulcral Chamber (Camera sepolcrale . . .)
Plate Number Plate 16
Series Part One of Architecture and Perspectives
Date 1743
Medium Etching on paper
Dimensions Image: 15 1/2 x 10 7/8 in. (39.4 x 27.6 cm)
Plate: 15 11/16 x 11 in. (39.8 x 27.9 cm)
Sheet: 20 7/16 x 15 3/8 in. (51.9 x 39.1 cm)
Credit Line Collection of Diether Thimme, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University
Accession Number 98.279.4

Share this artwork!

About this Work

Giovanni Battista Piranesi composed two kinds of views in his first portfolio of architectural subjects: imaginary ruins, inspired by antique buildings; and imaginary new projects, based on classical precedents. The melancholy nature of the ruined buildings is redoubled in images that combine themes of death, decay, and loss.

The text below this image notes that the burial chamber, lined with niches and littered with toppled funerary monuments and skeletons, was “designed according to the fashion and ancient magnificence of the Roman Emperors.”

The Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art has three prints from this series and the frontispiece (Eskenazi Museum of Art 98.279.1-.4)


Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

Plate Number Plate 16
Series Title Part One of Architecture and Perspectives
Foreign Language Series Title Prima parte di architettura e prospettive

Viewing Information
This artwork is currently off display. You may be able to see this artwork by filling out an art viewing room request.

 

Request this Image
The Eskenazi Museum of Art provides images of its collection, free of charge, upon request. This artwork is under copyright protection. You can request the image and it will be emailed to you when the request is complete.

Cite this Page
"Imaginary Sepulcral Chamber | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2024. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=98.279.4