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Draw bridge

Maker

(artist)
1720-1778

(etcher)
1720-1778

(publisher)
18th century (Life dates)

Title

Draw bridge

Date of Production

1749 = 1760

Medium

Etching

Dimensions

Height: 54.5 cm
Width: 41.3 cm

Accession Number

G.1978.PG.44.5

Mode of Acquisition

Count Antoine Seilern, bequest, 1978

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords




Label Text

This is one of the few plates in which Piranesi has used line etching alone, without any areas of tone. The cloud shapes add mystery and uncertainty by concealing some of the crucial points at which different architectural forms meet, whilst the dejected figures descending the stairs in the foreground, and the gesture of the man to the left beside the spiked spindle, add to the disquieting effect of the image. The inscription on the pier at the foor of the drawbridge seems deliberately illegible.

Provenance

Information not yet known or updated

Exhibition History

Piranesi, Tiepolo, Canaletto - Etchings from the Courtauld
Collection
, London & England, 11/02/1999-03/05/1999

Hogarth and Piranesi: Engravings and etchings, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 09/03/1992-07/06/1992

Inscriptions

Inscription: inscription : inscribed : printed : centre & recto : :

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