Piranesi: Imaginative Spaces

Piranesi is widely known for his lofty and often exaggerated views of Rome. But this series, The Prisons, or in Italian, Le Carceri D’Invenzione, are works purely from his imagination. His knowledge of architecture and his fine ability to produce great detailed and textured prints led him to this series.

Multiple versions (or states, as they are called) of the same image will be on view, to illustrate the changes made by the artist with each of the three printings. The series is quite interesting for its own sake, but the influence on contemporary artists working in the centuries that follows, creates a broader picture, expanding on its meaning.

Piranesi’s imagined architectural designs were one of many influences on Robert Morris that eventually led to the Glass Labyrinth, now housed in the museum’s Donald J. Hall Sculpture Garden.