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GIOVANNI B. PIRANESI
The Pier with a Lamp
.
Etching, engraving and burnishing, circa 1749. 410x545 mm; 16
1
/
4
x21
1
/
2
inches, small margins.
First state (of 7). From
Carceri d’Invenzione
. A superb, richly-inked and early impression;
extremely scarce in this early state.
Piranesi’s
Carceri d’Invenzione
is a series of 16 etchings of dark, forboding imaginary prison
interiors that show enormous subterranean vaults with stairs, massive iron work and torture-