"We see something like a dreamscape."
February 9, 2022 4:43 PM Subscribe
Susan Stewart (Public Domain Review, 02/09/2022), "A Paper Archaeology: Piranesi's Ruinous Fantasias": "the grotteschi--their broken statues, columns, tombs, roundels, reliefs, herms, cornucopias, shells, fasces, cameos, trumpets, bones, skulls, chains, mooring rings, and urns; their half-erased or faint inscriptions, rosettes, portraits, egg-and-dart moldings; their hazy skies, intimations of the sea, pines and palms, cascades, broken sticks and weeds, entwined with snakes and vines." Piranesi: Opere varie di architettura, prospettiva, groteschi, antichità; Vedute di Roma; Le Antichità Romane - Tomo Primo, Secondo, Terzo, Quarto; Vasi, candelabri, ... ; Le rovine del castello dell'Acqva Givlia; Carceri d'invenzione; etc.. Previously.
This is great. And wild because I literally just minutes ago had a CLIP Diffusion drawing model render a Piranesi for me: "Endless tower of stairs and ladders, lithograph by Piranesi"
Looking forward to checking out the Archive links too - I hadn't seen these versions.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 4:59 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Looking forward to checking out the Archive links too - I hadn't seen these versions.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 4:59 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Amongst the first rumblings of Romanticism...
posted by jim in austin at 5:06 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by jim in austin at 5:06 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
I like the tomb of Nero.
posted by clavdivs at 5:24 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by clavdivs at 5:24 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Susan Stewart is a hero. Thanks for sharing! Everyone should read her 1984 book On Longing. It's something of a miniature masterpiece.
posted by 0bvious at 5:53 PM on February 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by 0bvious at 5:53 PM on February 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
Thank you. I was obsessed with Piranesi's work when I was an art student. Been a while since I looked at it
posted by Zumbador at 7:27 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Zumbador at 7:27 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Just starting to read this essay - I had no idea about Piranesi! Boy, howdy is this interesting. The Tomb of Nero: Look On Amy Works, Ye Mighty, And Despair.
La Tavola Monumentale:
“A Klee painting named ‘Angelus Novus’ shows an angel looking as though he is about to move away from something he is fixedly contemplating. His eyes are staring, his mouth is open, his wings are spread. This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned toward the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing in from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such a violence that the angel can no longer close them. The storm irresistibly propels him into the future to which his back is turned, while the pile of debris before him grows skyward. This storm is what we call progress. ”
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 8:10 PM on February 9, 2022 [8 favorites]
La Tavola Monumentale:
“A Klee painting named ‘Angelus Novus’ shows an angel looking as though he is about to move away from something he is fixedly contemplating. His eyes are staring, his mouth is open, his wings are spread. This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned toward the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing in from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such a violence that the angel can no longer close them. The storm irresistibly propels him into the future to which his back is turned, while the pile of debris before him grows skyward. This storm is what we call progress. ”
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 8:10 PM on February 9, 2022 [8 favorites]
I love these illustrations, and also just finished & loved Clarke’s book. Looks like they were a major influence on Lebbeus Woods much more recently (1, 2, 3, 4).
posted by migurski at 8:14 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by migurski at 8:14 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
From a rare-books seller who sold a first edition of the Imaginary Prisons:
Thomas Penson De Quincey, an English essayist known for his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821), wrote about the Carceri, which he called "the Dreams":
"Many years ago, when I was looking over Piranesi"s Antiquities of Rome, Mr. Coleridge, who was standing by, described to me a set of plates by that artist, called his Dreams, and which record the scenery of his visions during the delirium of a fever. Some of them represented vast Gothic halls, on the floor of which stood all sorts of engines and machinery, wheels, cables, pulleys, levers, catapults, etc., etc., expressive of enormous power put forth, and resistance overcome. Creeping along the sides of the walls, you perceived a staircase; and upon it, groping his way upwards, was Piranesi himself; follow the stairs a little further, and you perceive it comes to a sudden, abrupt termination, without any balustrade, and allowing no step onwards to him who had reached the extremity, except into the depths below. Whatever is to become of poor Piranesi? - you suppose, at least, that his labours must in some way terminate here. But raise your eyes, and behold a second flight of stairs still higher, on which again Piranesi is perceived, by this time standing on the very brink of the abyss. Again elevate your eyes, and a still more aërial flight of stairs is beheld; and again is poor Piranesi busy on his aspiring labours: and so on, until the unfinished stairs and Piranesi both are lost in the upper gloom of the hall. With the same power of endless growth and self-reproduction did my architecture proceed in my dreams."
"Whether these wonderful plates of architectural fancy originated in the delirium of a fevered brain or not, they at least proceed from a genius at the fever heat of imagination. Many of the hundreds of Piranesi's architectural designs and views show a power of imagination far beyond the immediate demands of the subjects he handled, but nowhere except in the Carceri did he let his imagination have such unbounded play. In spite of the intrinsic horror of these dreams of prisons and torture chambers, there is a grandeur in the architectural setting which outweighs the more gruesome details and enables one to contemplate without distraction the whole ideal construction of Piranesi's designs." (Hind)
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 8:22 PM on February 9, 2022 [5 favorites]
Thomas Penson De Quincey, an English essayist known for his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821), wrote about the Carceri, which he called "the Dreams":
"Many years ago, when I was looking over Piranesi"s Antiquities of Rome, Mr. Coleridge, who was standing by, described to me a set of plates by that artist, called his Dreams, and which record the scenery of his visions during the delirium of a fever. Some of them represented vast Gothic halls, on the floor of which stood all sorts of engines and machinery, wheels, cables, pulleys, levers, catapults, etc., etc., expressive of enormous power put forth, and resistance overcome. Creeping along the sides of the walls, you perceived a staircase; and upon it, groping his way upwards, was Piranesi himself; follow the stairs a little further, and you perceive it comes to a sudden, abrupt termination, without any balustrade, and allowing no step onwards to him who had reached the extremity, except into the depths below. Whatever is to become of poor Piranesi? - you suppose, at least, that his labours must in some way terminate here. But raise your eyes, and behold a second flight of stairs still higher, on which again Piranesi is perceived, by this time standing on the very brink of the abyss. Again elevate your eyes, and a still more aërial flight of stairs is beheld; and again is poor Piranesi busy on his aspiring labours: and so on, until the unfinished stairs and Piranesi both are lost in the upper gloom of the hall. With the same power of endless growth and self-reproduction did my architecture proceed in my dreams."
"Whether these wonderful plates of architectural fancy originated in the delirium of a fevered brain or not, they at least proceed from a genius at the fever heat of imagination. Many of the hundreds of Piranesi's architectural designs and views show a power of imagination far beyond the immediate demands of the subjects he handled, but nowhere except in the Carceri did he let his imagination have such unbounded play. In spite of the intrinsic horror of these dreams of prisons and torture chambers, there is a grandeur in the architectural setting which outweighs the more gruesome details and enables one to contemplate without distraction the whole ideal construction of Piranesi's designs." (Hind)
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 8:22 PM on February 9, 2022 [5 favorites]
Coleridge was a fan! And I see a line to a Jeremy Bentham, the Panopticon, all the way up to Foucault and the absurdity of the prisons we ourselves create and patrol in negotiating power in human systems and relationships.
Romanticism and neoclassic architecture and carefully-constructed follies on the grounds of English nobility - the emergence of science fiction and its often-obsessive attention to detail for fantastical world-building - De Chirico and surrealism - Escher - fwoooooooo.
What a ride this read has sent me on! Thank you!
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 8:46 PM on February 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
Romanticism and neoclassic architecture and carefully-constructed follies on the grounds of English nobility - the emergence of science fiction and its often-obsessive attention to detail for fantastical world-building - De Chirico and surrealism - Escher - fwoooooooo.
What a ride this read has sent me on! Thank you!
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 8:46 PM on February 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
Escher kept prints by Piranesi in his studio.
Aldous Huxley on Bentham, with a mention of Piranesi (but no solid connection, just telling just-so stories like my own brain).
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 8:50 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Aldous Huxley on Bentham, with a mention of Piranesi (but no solid connection, just telling just-so stories like my own brain).
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 8:50 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
From the Met: “Piranesi’s popular [Views of Rome], which eclipsed earlier views of Roman landmarks through their dynamic compositions, bold lighting effects, and dramatic presentation, shaped European conceptions to such an extent that Goethe, who had come to know Rome through Piranesi’s prints, was somewhat disappointed on his first encounter with the real thing.”
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 8:52 PM on February 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 8:52 PM on February 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
He had a pen antiquities-pastiche home-decor business in addition to his profitable etchings work (facilitated by Italian painters’ early adoption and valorization of the Revolutionary New Technology of engravings/reproducible art, compared to their German counterparts!)
“Piranesi argued for the complete freedom of the architect or designer to draw on models from every time and place as an inspiration for his own inventions. Piranesi’s etchings of his eclectic mantelpiece and furniture designs circulated throughout Europe, influencing decorative trends, and even functioned as a sales catalogue to advertise the objects he fashioned from ancient remains. Some of the fireplace designs included in the Diverse maniere were actually executed under Piranesi’s direction, utilizing antique fragments discovered in recent excavations. The restoration of such fragmentary remains, a process that ranged from simply providing an ancient Roman vase with a suitable antique base to such elaborate assemblages as the Newdigate candelabrum, became a new business for Piranesi.” (Also from the Met bio)
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 9:01 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
“Piranesi argued for the complete freedom of the architect or designer to draw on models from every time and place as an inspiration for his own inventions. Piranesi’s etchings of his eclectic mantelpiece and furniture designs circulated throughout Europe, influencing decorative trends, and even functioned as a sales catalogue to advertise the objects he fashioned from ancient remains. Some of the fireplace designs included in the Diverse maniere were actually executed under Piranesi’s direction, utilizing antique fragments discovered in recent excavations. The restoration of such fragmentary remains, a process that ranged from simply providing an ancient Roman vase with a suitable antique base to such elaborate assemblages as the Newdigate candelabrum, became a new business for Piranesi.” (Also from the Met bio)
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 9:01 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Goya’s The Sleep Of Reason Produces Monsters was approximately contemporary!
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 9:04 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 9:04 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Piranesi's Carceri and Lebbeus Woods in the same thread - that's Metafilter!
posted by Termite at 9:09 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Termite at 9:09 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
He's also featured in the "Villa Sacchetti" chapter of Judith Schalansky's (previously) recent An Inventory of Losses!
posted by RGD at 9:15 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by RGD at 9:15 PM on February 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Thanks!
This is perfect timing for me, as I am planning a study trip to Rome in April, and I was thinking of giving a lecture about Rome's tourist industry during the 19th century and the role of artists prints.
Mr. Coleridge, who was standing by, described to me a set of plates by that artist, called his Dreams, and which record the scenery of his visions during the delirium of a fever.
I wasn't aware that they were also called Dreams. I have PTSD, and my recurring nightmares are like being inside Piranesi's Carceri, except with lots of violent people all over the place. It is somehow soothing if Piranesi dealt with the same thing.
posted by mumimor at 11:09 PM on February 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
This is perfect timing for me, as I am planning a study trip to Rome in April, and I was thinking of giving a lecture about Rome's tourist industry during the 19th century and the role of artists prints.
Mr. Coleridge, who was standing by, described to me a set of plates by that artist, called his Dreams, and which record the scenery of his visions during the delirium of a fever.
I wasn't aware that they were also called Dreams. I have PTSD, and my recurring nightmares are like being inside Piranesi's Carceri, except with lots of violent people all over the place. It is somehow soothing if Piranesi dealt with the same thing.
posted by mumimor at 11:09 PM on February 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
Clarke's book is being serialised on BBC radio this week and next. Available online here.
posted by Paul Slade at 11:19 PM on February 9, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by Paul Slade at 11:19 PM on February 9, 2022 [5 favorites]
Having recently read and slowly-warmed-to-then-crackled-away-into Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi, I am excited to explore these halls.
May your Paths be safe, your Floors unbroken and may the House fill your eyes with Beauty!
posted by micketymoc at 10:33 PM on February 10, 2022 [4 favorites]
May your Paths be safe, your Floors unbroken and may the House fill your eyes with Beauty!
posted by micketymoc at 10:33 PM on February 10, 2022 [4 favorites]
It's something of a miniature masterpiece.
Nice.
posted by jokeefe at 7:43 PM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
Nice.
posted by jokeefe at 7:43 PM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
“A Klee painting named ‘Angelus Novus’ shows an angel looking as though he is about to move away from something he is fixedly contemplating. His eyes are staring, his mouth is open, his wings are spread. This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned toward the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed...
This quote is from Walter Benjamin, Theses on the Philosophy of History (1940), if anyone wants to read farther.
posted by jokeefe at 7:49 PM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
This quote is from Walter Benjamin, Theses on the Philosophy of History (1940), if anyone wants to read farther.
posted by jokeefe at 7:49 PM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
Also, Susan Stewart's work is amazing. Here's the citation for her MacArthur Award (the "Genius" grant) which she received in 1997.
posted by jokeefe at 7:53 PM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by jokeefe at 7:53 PM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
Judging by the vast cityscapes and structures in the manga and anime "Blame!", Tsutomu Nihei must be a Piranesi fan.
posted by technodelic at 11:12 PM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by technodelic at 11:12 PM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
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posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 4:55 PM on February 9, 2022 [9 favorites]