This page was created by Lindsay Wright. The last update was by Jeanne Britton.
Interior view of the Temple of Bacchus
Francesco’s cross-section casts light into the otherwise darkened interior, clearly delineating the medieval images and ancient details that both he and his father label with annotations. In contrast to the crisp lettering throughout Francesco’s cross-section, Giovanni’s annotations are practically invisible in the shadowy temple, lost in the deeply-etched details of its walls. Viewers are encouraged to look, though, and also to read, by staffage figures whose postures seem to amplify the indexical function of the annotations. Two staffage figures—one standing on the left, the other seated on the right—gesture in parallel towards the center of the image and into the recesses of the temple. Other figures engage with almost all of the image’s annotated elements: two men look and walk down the stairs (F), and another two lean and apparently read on the altar (E). From these ground-level details, we are encouraged to look carefully as our eyes move higher and deeper in the image, where the walls are, the caption tells us, the only ones that preserve their ancient architecture, though they have been stripped of their stucco ornaments. In contrast with Francesco’s illusion of the cut-away cross-section, Giovanni employs the illusion of the immersive interior that is dotted with informative annotations in order to combine a more realistic experience of the present with an educated portrayal of the past. (JB)
To see this image in the Vedute di Roma, volume 16 of Piranesi’s Opere, click here.