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Colin Holden on Giovanni Battista Piranesi's Portrait

Speaker(s): Dr Colin Holden

  • Date recorded: 23 Mar 2014

  • Duration: 03:07

'he showed his father as though he were an ancient Roman, in profile on part of a monument that had survived from the classical era'

- Dr Colin Holden

About this video

Italian 18th-century master-printmaker Giovanni Battista Piranesi was famous for his images of classical and baroque Rome. This 11-part video series reveals the details and meaning behind the figures depicted in prints featured in the Library's 2014 exhibition, Rome: Piranesi's vision.

Here, exhibition curator Dr Colin Holden explains how the portrait Piranesi's son Francesco created of his father as an ancient Roman reflected Piranesi's visual play and values.

Watch the other videos in this series:

Speakers

Dr Colin Holden is a historian, curator and author. He was awarded the Redmond Barry Fellowship in 2010 to research the majestic works of 18th-century Italian printmaker Giovanni Battista Piranesi and the associated 2014 State Library exhibition, Rome: Piranesi's vision.