Las Artes de Piranesi. Arquitecto, grabador, anticuario, vedutista y diseñador

The exhibition entitled The Arts of Piranesi. Architect, printmaker, antiquarian, vedutista,
designer, conceived by architect Michele De Lucchi and produced by the Giorgio Cini
Foundation and Adam Lowe’s Factum Arte studio was held in the Sale del Convitto
exhibition centre on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore in 2010. Thanks to a twoyear
agreement with the Caixa Foundation, Barcelona, the exhibition will now also be staged in Madrid (25 April – 9 September 2012) and Barcelona (9 October 2012 – 6January 2013).

The exhibition explores the many and varied activities of Giambattista Piranesi (Venice 1720 – Rome 1778), one of the most fascinating and complex fi gures in 18th-century art.
The spell-binding exhibition itinerary features prints selected from the complete works held in the Giorgio Cini Foundation graphic collections and a series of ad hoc creations embodying Piranesi’s language, style and natural fl air for crossing over ancient and modern formal repertories in ingenious combinations.

The Arts of Piranesi is a pioneering and thought-provoking exhibition, exactly in the spirit of Piranesi himself. It has been designed to highlight the polymath interests, style and remarkable modernity of the Venetian artist, also through the presence of a number of contemporary works inspired by his work, such as a 3D fi lm of the Carceri d’Invenzione made by Factum Arte and eight original objects created by starting from Piranesi prints (two tripods, a vase, a chair, a candelabrum, an altar, a coffee pot and a stunning fireplace complete with fi re furniture). The exhibition also features thirty-two views of Rome by Gabriele Basilico, a photographer’s personal homage to the great artist.