Excerpt from Selected Etchings by Piranesi The practising architect in England at the end of the eighteenth century required, however, a Cicerone to the remains of the' antique world just-as much as his prede cessor did in the seventeenth century. The seventeenth-century architect chose Palladio as his guide; the architect in the latter part of the eighteenth century chose Piranesi. Naturally, the lesson taught was somewhat different. The eighteenth-century architect was much further advanced in scholarship. Palladio gave ...
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Excerpt from Selected Etchings by Piranesi The practising architect in England at the end of the eighteenth century required, however, a Cicerone to the remains of the' antique world just-as much as his prede cessor did in the seventeenth century. The seventeenth-century architect chose Palladio as his guide; the architect in the latter part of the eighteenth century chose Piranesi. Naturally, the lesson taught was somewhat different. The eighteenth-century architect was much further advanced in scholarship. Palladio gave the main proportions of the Orders and the principles of composition. He laid down definite rules and precepts suit able to beginners. His was the first-year work, to use a school simile. Piranesi takes the scholars of the later years and initiates them into all the mysteries of ornament and stylistic character. Offering no pedantic rules, he makes a direct appeal to the imagination of his students. He reveals to them not only the power but the intimate spirit of the Roman world. He offers them whole collee tions of vases and candelabra to use or not asthey like. He unlocks a tr'easu're-house - a library full of fresh detail. The detail, too, is rich, complex detail, ' safe only in the hands of the discerning. But Piranesi's students in England at that time were fit to profit by such a master; among his more attentive scholars being Robert Adam, Chambers, Dance, and many other architects of the late eighteenth century, and through these he influenced the decorative designers from Chippendale to Pergolesi. Mr. Phene Spiers, not without a certain hyperbole; traces the Empire Style to Piranesi's designs for chimneypieces; At any rate it is safe to say that the new vigour and life which came into English architecture with the work of Chambers and-adam was derived from a more thorough and complete knowledge of Roman architecture, and that the chief source of that knowledge was the vast collection of thirteen hundred or more engraved plates whic'h' Piranesi etched and published at the marvellous rate of one a fortnight throughout a fairly long life. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at ... This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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