The Digital PiranesiMain MenuAboutThe Digital Piranesi is a developing digital humanities project that aims to provide an enhanced digital edition of the works of Italian illustrator Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778).Works and VolumesGenres, Subjects, and ThemesBibliographyGlossary
Pyramid of Caius Cestius
12019-11-11T16:57:45-08:00Avery Freemanb9edcb567e2471c9ec37caa50383522b90999cba228491from Volume 17 of Giovanni Battista Piranesi's Opereplain2019-11-11T16:57:45-08:00Internet ArchivedatapiranesiRescan_vol17_0265.jpgAvery Freemanb9edcb567e2471c9ec37caa50383522b90999cba
12018-11-07T17:39:14-08:00Pyramid of Caius Cestius28Piramide di Cajo Cestioplain2023-06-26T08:04:56-07:00Title: Piramide di Caio Cestio 1. Terreno sgombrato d’intorno alla Piramide sotto il Pontificato d’Alessandro VII. 2. Porta aperta di quel tempo nella Piramide. 3. Colonne ritrovate nello sgombro e riposte nell’antica positura. 4. Mura di Roma. 5. Torri della Porta di San Paolo. Signature: Presso l’autore Signature 2: Piranesi F(ecit).Title: Pyramid of Caius Cestius Key: 1. Excavated terrain from around the Pyramid under the Pontificate of Alexander VII. 2. Door in the Pyramid that was open at that time 3. Columns found in the excavation and put in their ancient position again. 4. Walls of Rome. 5. Towers of the Porta di San Paolo. Signature: Published by the author Signature 2: Made by Piranesi.In this view, titled “Piramide de C. Cestio,” a seemingly massive structure, lengthened by a low vantage point, fills the full height of the image. Piranesi indicates the elevated ground level of the city, with its ancient level revealed at the base of the monument. The succinct numerical key describes this excavated earth as “Terreno sgombrato” (1) and then names the product of the excavation as “sgombro” (3). Twice using a form of the archaeological term “sgombrare,” Piranesi lends an additional layer of antiquarianism to his description of the discovery of the two columns, which have, as the key further explains, been restored to their original positions at the pyramid’s corners (3). Absorbed by the wall of the ancient city (4), which is indicated by numbered captions to its left and right, the pyramid marks the boundary of Rome. Piranesi’s etching techniques also emphasize a boundary between nature and culture, with the dramatic, erratic chiaroscuro of the trees and foliage on the right sharply contrasting with the gentle, linear shading and slight plant growth on the surface of the pyramid. The dramatic shading extends to the expansive banderol that serves as the image caption, in front of which a gesturing figure seems to recline. The prominence of this human figure, and particularly his pointing index finger, summons a consideration of the relationship that Piranesi persistently reimagines between word and image.
This figure is set off against the white of the banderol and at least twice the size of the men who surround the pyramid’s door, which the first annotation explains was opened during the excavations under Alexander VII. While John Wilton-Ely has argued that this key’s appearance “serves to minimalize human identity in the gesturing figure placed in front of it” (1978, 37), the key and the reclining man are also equalized in their shared act of gesturing. A man who points with his finger reclines in front of and in fact interrupts a key that itself points, with annotations, to the monument, the surrounding wall, and the excavated earth. In this doubling of pointing gestures that are bodily and verbal, the immensity of the pyramid combines with the specificity of the key’s contents—both the pyramid’s physical features and its built environment, details of archaeological rediscovery and restoration. Jeanne Zarucchi has called attention to Piranesi’s titles, observing that his “vedute” and “altre vedute” of certain monuments often suggest different visual and cultural perspectives of the same structure. Perhaps the title of this image, one of a few not to include the word “veduta,” extends from its emphatic gestures so as to suggest a near equivalence with the monument itself. (JB, ZL)
To see this image in the Vedute di Roma, volume 17 of Piranesi’s Opere, click here.
