Friday Morning Lecture & Tour Series: Purchasing Piranesi

Making use of unpublished archival research, Dr. John Marciari, Curator of European Art and Head of Provenance Research, will discuss the ways in which travelers set about buying works by Piranesi, Batoni, and others in 18th-century Italy. Buying art was a key element of the British Grand Tour to Italy during the 18th century, and a visit to Giambattista Piranesi's workshop was not-to-be-missed. As a printmaker, architect, antiquarian, art dealer, theorist, and designer, Piranesi's studio was like a superstore of antiquities. Here, those on the Grand Tour could buy antiquities and prints that recorded them, as well as casts, copies, and forgeries.

Sponsored by The San Diego Museum of Art Docent Council, GS Levine Insurance Services, Inc., and Ace Private Risk Services