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Colin Holden on Piranesi's 'View of the Spanish Steps'

Speaker(s): Dr Colin Holden

  • Date recorded: 23 Jan 2015

  • Duration: 03:23

'The area round this square was a favourite for English Grand Tourists'

- 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 sheds light on the aristocrats, servants and Grand Tourists that appear in the print Veduta della Piazza di Spagna (View of the Piazza di Spagna [the Spanish Steps]), 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.