1784
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Dominant colour
The Round Tower is a 1784 ink by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This drawing looks like a maze of ancient ruins. Tall arches and crumbling walls fill the scene, stacked in layers that make it hard to tell where one ends and another begins. A few lone figures wander through the shadows, dwarfed by the towering structures. The lines are sharp and busy, creating a sense of depth and mystery. The artist used a technique that lets ink sit in deep grooves, making some areas look almost three-dimensional. This was a way to show light and texture without color. Look up etching to see how artists carve into metal plates to make prints like this.
Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (Italian pronunciation: ; also known as simply Piranesi; 4 October 1720 – 9 November 1778) was an Italian classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his…
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