Vedute di Roma

Piranesi’s Greatest Masterwork
Vedute di Roma (Views of Rome)
by
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778)
The 1^st complete facsimile edition consisting of

• 2 modern title page, for box I and II
• 2 index sheets with all titles,
• 135 prints by Piranesi,
• 2 supplementary prints by his son Francesco,
• 1 folded reference sheet (94 x 70 cm.

The edition is cased in two elegant and beautiful hand-crafted Solander boxes in dark grey linen and embossed on the cover in silver.

Paper size: 82.0 x 55.5 cm.

Heritage Editions BV is proud to introduce a Fine Art Facsimile Edition of the complete plates of Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s Vedute Di Roma Our Fine Art Facsimiles are the perfect image of the original hand-coloured engravings. It constitutes the faithful reproduction of a engraved plate in all its detail, using methods of printing and craftsmanship, perfectly reflecting the shading of individual tones of colour and lines. Heritage Editions attaches great importance to the materials resistance to ageing, so that both value and durability of our edition may be considered as virtually unlimited. The paper we use is 268 g/m mat archival acid-free art paper. The printing is so accurate that from behind glass, the naked eye is unable to distinguish the original from the facsimile. In addition, our facsimiles are of course exactly the same size as the originals. Lastly, the prints are cased-in an elegant hand-crafted Solander box covered in a special dark green linen and embossed on the cover with the title in gold. Each facsimile has it all: every incredibly fine line detail of every engraved plate.

Ghent University Collection:

Ghent University (Belgium,) owns one of the world's largest collection of original etchings by Piranesi. Until now, their Piranesi collection has never been published nor exhibited. The core of their collection contains a very beautiful complete set of the "First French Edition" including the complete series of Vedute di Roma. Probably but this is not quite sure yet, is this the set Traité des arts d'architecture, peinture et sculpture, Rome, 1756-1800.

Joseph Bonaparte:

In 1803, Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, and the King of Naples (1806-1808), and later the King of Spain (1808 - 1813) donated Piranesi's original etchings to the Ghent Library.

John Wilton-Ely, Piranesi historian, describes the Vedute di Roma as follows:
The 135 plates of the "Vedute di Roma"…represent almost every phase in his stylistic evolution and reflect his changing intellectual concerns. Through these particular works, which were spread all over the Continent by means of the Grand Tour, Piranesi was not only to revolutionize the convention form of the veduta but was to transform the European vision of classical antiquity

About this series
Piranesi devoted a large part of his life to this series, which proved seminal through its influence not only on other artists, but also on the entire European and colonial society. Piranesi's unmatched technical skill allowed him to produce larger etchings than was then normal and to render his subjects with unsurpassed accuracy, but his views of antiquities also caught the mood of his own age, reflecting the neo-classical interest in the culture of classical Greece and Rome, but at the same time romanticising the antique in a way that appealed to the spirit of the day (Rousseau's "bon sauvage" appeared in 1755). In this sense Piranesi (1720-1778) and his <em>Vedute di Roma</em> played a central role in the transition from neoclassicism to romanticism. They influenced Goethe, Byron and Keats, a long line of British architects from Robert Adams to John Ruskin, and many others. All these people visited Rome after seeing Piranesi's prints. Around 1774, as Piranesi completed the series, he produced a large reference map to accompany the collection (Pianta di Roma e del Campo Marzo) showing the location of the antiquities in relation to modern Rome and the Campus Martius and its surroundings to the north of the city, with a smaller inset map of the ancient city. This map and two supplementary views by Piranesi's son (Vedute del Panteon and Veduta del Colosseo) complete the present facsimile series.

Strictly limited edition of 250 copies
The edition will be limited to two hundred and fifty complete sets in portfolios, numbered 1/250 to 250/250, with an additional five boxes hors de commerce, numbered HC I/V to HC V/V.
<strong>Return Guarantee
We know that our facsimiles are perfect - but we know that you won’t know this until you see one for yourself. So, if you’re not perfectly satisfied with this box we’ve made for you, you can return it to us within thirty days in its original perfect condition and packed in its original shipping container. We’ll credit back to you the full purchase price of the portfolio you return. You will only be responsible for return shipping costs.

Two hand-crafted elegant Solander boxes with silver lettering
The complete set will be cased in two elegant hand-crafted Solander boxes covered in a special dark grey linen and embossed on the cover with the title in silver.

Certificate of Authenticity
Every box is accompanied with a certificate of authenticity.

Delivery time 4 weeks
As the boxes will be made on demand by Holland’s best professional bookbinder we must ask for a delivery time of 4 weeks after receiving your payment.