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The Complete Etchings presents the full body of work by 18th-century engraver Giovanni Battista Piranesi, authored by Luigi Ficacci in an extensive hardcover volume. It covers Piranesi's renowned architectural views of Rome alongside his imagined prison scenes, with particular focus on his treatment of staircases that exist simultaneously on two planes. The book also examines the artist's lasting influence on later creative works, tracing his legacy from Edgar Allan Poe to contemporary popular culture.
The work of 18th-century engraver Giovanni Battista Piranesi is detailed in Taschen's 'Piranesi. The Complete Etchings', an extensive volume in which spaces — both real and imagined — created by the Italian are displayed in unprecedented detail. Authored by Luigi Ficacci, the comprehensive tome explores the complete etchings of Piranesi, which are renowned for their architectural views of Rome and their role in shaping the European image of Italy, and special attention is paid to the artist's view on staircases — which exist on two planes simultaneously — and prison scenes that straddle reality and fantasy. In its celebration of Piranesi's extremely unique form of existentialist drama, the book additionally looks at the artist's legacy and enduring influence, from Edgar Allan Poe to the moving staircases at Hogwarts.
