Hadrian's Villa: A Hall in the So-Called Accademia] Dieta, o sia Luogo che da ingresso o due diversi grandosi Cubicali, by Piranesi, Giovanni Battista, 1720-1778

[Paris: F. & P. Piranesi, 1800. Etched plate, on laid paper, by Piranesi. Sheet size: 20 1/2 x 28 1/4 inches. From Piranesi's Vedute di Roma, this plate depicts Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli, Italy. Hadrian's Villa was constructed at Tibur (modern-day Tivoli) as a retreat from Rome for Roman Emperor Hadrian during the second and third decades of the 2nd century AD. It was tradition for Roman emperors to have villas constructed as respite from everyday life. Hadrian's Villa is a vast area of land with many pools, baths, fountains and classical Greek architecture set in what would have been a mixture of landscaped gardens, wilderness areas and cultivated farmlands. Constructed in travertine, brick, lime, pozzolana, and tufa, the complex contains over 30 buildings, covering an area of at least 250 acres of which much is still unexcavated. The villa was the greatest Roman example of a sacred Alexandrian garden. Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Venetian architect, draftsman, scholar, archaeologist, and designer,… Read More