1754
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Dominant colour
The Smoking Fire is a 1754 ink by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows a crazy, tangled city. Buildings pile up high with no clear order. Staircases and arches crisscross everywhere. Tiny people walk below, lost in the mess. The lines are thick and scratchy, like someone drew fast without stopping. The artist packed in so many details it looks like a maze. The tiniest windows and steps add to the chaos. This style was used to show how overwhelming big places could feel. Next, check out etching to see how artists like this made these sharp, layered lines.
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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