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 and Abbreviations
View of the Milvian Bridge over the Tiber Two Miles outside Rome
12019-02-15T16:32:32-08:00Lindsay Wright43a99ec7d54d1be69bca7742bf73aca8e82f68ed2284915Veduta del Ponte Molle sul Tevere due miglia lontan da Romaplain2022-05-02T08:10:57-07:00Title: Veduta del Ponte Molle sul Tevere due miglia lontan da Roma Key: A Ristauri del Pontefice Niccolò V. B Rovine del Ponte supplite con due ponti levatoj. C Torre fabbricata ne’ tempi bassi per custodia del Ponte Signature: app(ress)o l'Autore nel palazzo del Signore Conte Tomati a Strada Felice. Signature 2: Piranesi F(ecit).Title: View of the Milvian Bridge over the Tiber Two Miles outside Rome Key: A Restorations by Pope Nicholas V. Ruins of the Bridge supplied with two drawbridges. C Tower built in the low times for the conservation of the Bridge Signature: Published by the Author in the Palazzo of Count Tomati on the Strada Felice Signature 2: Made by Piranesi.Zoe Langeref2dd00d773765a8b071cbe9e59fc8bf7c7da399Drawing viewers to a vantage point almost beneath the Milvian Bridge, Piranesi creates a stupendous structure, cast in bold recession, that is surrounded by architectural restorations and contemporary activity. Dark shadows and sharp contrasts in the foreground and to the left gradually fade along the linear procession of the bridge towards the background, where only the ruins of a wooden bridge carry any vivid contrast against an indistinct background. A view of similar visual drama in the Campus Martius volume imagines the bridge before the restorations that are twice noted here with “A.” The view above of course firmly positions the bridge in the eighteenth century, with other annotations indicating what is absent in the Campus Martius image: past restorations, support systems, and the medieval tower. While our eyes are led along the steep diagonal, they are also distracted by the staffage figures throughout the image, whose outstretched arms, engaged in labor and especially gestural motion, produce a somewhat chaotic, kinetic energy. One figure, who stands in the far right of the foreground, leans back to indicate, it seems, the banner upon which Piranesi’s caption appears. This figure’s face is partially cut off by the margin of the image. By contrast, the statue of Saint John of Nepomuk (1345-1393) in the upper left atop the bridge, like the flag near the center, punctures the margin. With these compositional and gestural lines competing for our attention, directing us to consider daily labor, to consult the caption, or to observe the boundaries of the image, viewers are compelled to enter this view in an active stance, deliberately choosing each visual path. (JB)
To see this image in the Vedute di Roma, volume 16 of Piranesi’s Opere, click here.
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1media/16 frontispiece.jpg2018-11-23T19:33:38-08:00Jeanne Brittone120651dde677d5cf1fd515358b14d86eb289f11Views of Rome (1 of 2)Jeanne Britton83Vedute di Romaimage_header2022-06-17T08:38:57-07:00Jeanne Brittone120651dde677d5cf1fd515358b14d86eb289f11
1media/Perspective tag.png2021-10-16T08:00:55-07:00Jeanne Brittone120651dde677d5cf1fd515358b14d86eb289f11PerspectiveJeanne Britton20in the Views of Romeimage_header2022-03-22T13:03:42-07:00Jeanne Brittone120651dde677d5cf1fd515358b14d86eb289f11