1754
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Dominant colour
The Staircase with Trophies is a 1754 ink by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This drawing shows a chaotic, towering staircase packed with strange shapes. Broken columns, crumbling steps, and shadowy figures fill the space. The walls are lined with odd objects—like wheels and skulls—while people climb or stumble below. Light barely cuts through the dense, tangled lines. The artist used scratching and layering to build up the dark, busy textures. This wasn’t just a sketch—it was a deliberate mess to feel overwhelming. Next, check out etching, drypoint, aquatint to see how artists like Piranesi created these deep, layered prints.
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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