Quirinal Hill
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778), Quirinal Hill, etching, 1745, [signature lower right, enumeration of locations in the print at margin bottom, in the plate]. 1745. Focillon 95, Wilton-Ely 98. From the Varie Veduti di Roma Anticha e Moderna. In compromised condition: laid down, light stain, tear bottom right, trimmed to or just within plate mark, rubbed area upper right near edge). 5 x 7 1/2 inches.
A fair impression.
The Quirinal Hill consists of: 1. Pontifical Palace, 2. Church of St. Mary Magdalen, 3. Palazzo della Consulta, 4. Palazzo Rospigliosi, 5. Pontifical Stables and Barracks of the Bodyguard. The Pontifical Palace is today the residence of the President of the Italian Republic.
The small views of Rome of the Varie Vedute, made at the outset of Piranesi’s career, were not re-issued in later editions of his collected works, since the plates were sold directly to publishers by Piranesi. They were used to illustrate guidebooks to Rome until the mid-1760′s.