Artwork Page for The Prisons: An Immense Interior with a Drawbridge

Details / Information for The Prisons: An Immense Interior with a Drawbridge

The Prisons: An Immense Interior with a Drawbridge

1745–1750

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

(Italian, 1720–1778)
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Culture
Italy, 18th century
Medium
etching
Credit Line
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1941.26.5
Catalogue raisonné
Focillon 30 ; Hind 7
State
H. I/III
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
A vertically oriented etching in black ink depicts a cavernous stone interior teeming with architectural complexity. In the foreground, a railed staircase climbs from the lower left. Thick beams and heavy chains suspend a diagonal drawbridge above. Massive arches and spiraling staircases recede into the distance, populated by tiny, indistinct figures. Dense, cross-hatched lines create deep shadows and stark highlights, emphasizing the monumental scale and dizzying depth of the structure.

The Prisons: An Immense Interior with a Drawbridge

1745–1750

Giovanni Battista Piranesi

(Italian, 1720–1778)
Italy, 18th century

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