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Colin Holden on Piranesi's 'Temple of Antoninus and Faustina'

Speaker(s): Dr Colin Holden

  • Date recorded: 23 Mar 2014

  • Duration: 03:36

'In front of the temple, as often happens in Piranesi’s views of Rome, we meet people from quite opposite walks of life'

- 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.

In this video, exhibition curator Dr Colin Holden highlights the contrasts between the Grand Tourists and beggars seen in the print Veduta del Tempio d’ Antonino e Faustina in Campo Vaccino (View of the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina in the Forum), from Piranesi's Vedute di Roma.

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.