Customer Reviews

Piranesi the Complete Etchings (Flexi)

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This is just a warning to those of you purchasing the in-print $11 version of this book, which Amazon carelessly has listed as the same as the out-of-print paperback version. The in-print version is NOT the complete etchings, and the only reason the reviews here suggest that it is is because Amazon has, as I have already said, linked the two editions, which are totally different. The in-print version is HIGHLY abridged, and is less than half as long as the older version. I was hoping the images were simply smaller, but this is indeed NOT the case. This edition has less than half the number of images as the older edition.

Yes, Taschen Bücher has done it again : a marvelous art book at an unbelievable price !

The Venetian Piranesi (1720-1778) prided himself on being an architect attributing to his profession the power to revolutionize the world, but oddly he never got the opportunity to build anything. Instead he developed an almost unparalleled mastery of the art of engraving and became an active archaeologist, a zealot defending the claim of Roman antiquity's architectural superiority to that of (a.o.) ancient Greece. He never realized his artistic ambitons : restoring Rome with architecture worthy of its ancient glory. Instead he had to economically support himself by publishing and selling an amazing amount of etchings.

The series he is most known for in our time are on the one hand the "Carceri", a set of darkly haunting fantastic prison scenes that plays with perspective in a way that preludes the work of Escher. On the other hand there are the "Vedute di Roma" : breathtakingly executed sights of Rome that exemplify Piranesi's vision of a dilapidated Rome at the same time in awe of and suffocated by its architectural heritage.

There is however far more to Piranesi's art, as is abundantly shown in these "Complete Etchings". Over a thousand etchings are grouped in this delightful book and they show the staggering breadth and depth of the artist's interests and ambitions. The reproductions are simply marvelous : shown on a cream coloured background the artwork is reproduced with a stunning clarity and sharpness. No postage stamp size plates in this edition (as in so many other ghastly illustrated "Complete Works" endeavours) : maximum two etchings are reproduced per page allowing the reader to fully savour the manic detail of these graphic jewels.

Moreover this publication offers, apart from a short biography, a delightful index of all of Piranesi's subject matters. This allows the reader to easily look up the different treatments of a single building throughout the artist's career. This provides some fascinating insights. Take for instance the Roman Pantheon - a subject that Piranesi has treated no less than nine times : seven times he gives a fairly accurate contemporary picture of the building, once he shows it in its full original splendour and once - in the "Vedute" series - the stage set designer completely takes over from the conscientious documentalist and we get a view of the building's pronaos that is such an exuberant exaggeration of the temple's actual proportions that the human figures seem like ants dwarfed by the dark and looming columns of the building. Fascinating...

Is there nothing negative to be said about this edition ? Well, yes, of course, but given the splendid value for money this book provides you with, all criticism looks a bit like nitpicking. Still, here goes.

I would have liked a bit more detail in the biography written by L.Ficacci, especially about the nature of the intellectual debate Piranesi was so involved in and how he was perceived by his conteporaries - not just his competitors in the engraving business, but by the different factions of scholars participating in the debate. The reason why he never got a real architect's commission is also something that is tantalizingly avoided in this text (although I can imagine that patrons would have shied away after one look at the architectrual fantasies he put on paper : they make the stage sets of Cecil B.DeMille look subdued...).

Another point of criticism is that this book lets us see the eye of the artist, but fails to let us hear his voice. The author points out that the etchings were often not separate works of art but were published together with texts that intensively referred to the prints. However, not a single example of Piranesi's writings is offered in the entire book and that is a pity.

Finally, leafing through this book one often wonders which of the buildings in the etchings have survived to this day and which ones have not, when have they disappeared, where was their exact location and what have they been replaced with ? No answers are offered here. We'll just have to wait for somebody else to make an architectural guide for Rome based on Piranesi's artwork.

Forget the last three alineas and rush out to buy this book. It offers a unique opportunity to get to an in-depth knowledge of the work of one of the most fascinating 18th century Italian artists. The plates, with their seemingly endless detail will provide you with hours of visual delight.

Despite the minimal written information, translated from Italian into both English and German, this very generous book does indeed live up to its title of The Complete Etchings. Giovanni Battista Piranesi lived and worked in the mid 18th century, dreaming of architecturally recreating Ancient Rome. Thwarted from his grandiose dreams by practical matters of living, he found a viable outlet for communicating at least his visions by means of making some of the finest etchings the printing world has known. Concepts he could not translate into edifices became grand, eloquent and very personal prints which even today influence artists and stage designers, so atmospheric and rich are the renderings. Piranesi thought on the grand scale, and these many etchings demonstrate how his sense of space, of dark interiors with penetrating shafts of light, of temples, of prisons and prisoners, and even details of architectural elements of decor could become fine art. Though the amount of information about the man as written here is minimal, I doubt that there was much more to this man's biography, so absorbed he was with markings on copper plates. But the lack of biographical data is more than compensated for in the accompanying information on the pages with each etching. This is a fine addition to the libraries of artists, printmakers, architects, and yes, Dreamers! Well worth the price.

This book contains all the output of Piranesi, which is what accounts for its thickness. The display is almost purely visual, with only the most minimal of text. The illustrations are clear but fairly small for the most part. I use the book all the time in identifying Piranesis, and I suppose that any serious collector will want to own it. But for any further purpose it's not useful. The index, unfortunately, is totally inadequate and hard to use. The source of this problem (and it is a major one) is that the book is aiming for a readership that also includes Italian, French, and German readers, which means that text has to be minimal.

This book may have all of Piranesi's work, but the pictures are ridiculously small. I returned it the day it came in the mail.

Because you'll be looking at the equivalent of large postage stamps. Truly, a ridiculous book that will make you extremely frustrated; there is no way to appreciate the line or entirety of Piranesi's work with these miniature "reproductions".

A startlingly inexpensive volume even at cover price, and a fine overview of the architectural visions of this singular illustrator. The size of the pages don't allow for the fullest, most detailed reproductions of the etchings, but for what is possible the quality is very good.

This is a great hard copy resorce and gives you a full range of the mans work. It is not and can not be a complete listing of his work but I found it helpful to identify a couple pieces I have.

Great reference book. I only wish the images were big enough to see the details. This book is far too small (even though it is thick). I wanted to use the images as inspiration, but I need a magnifying glass to see them. There is much text though- so a great reference book.