Perfect prints by Piranesi

Have you ever heard of the famous 18th century Italian printmaker Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi, known simply as Piranesi? He was an Italian Classical archaeologist, architect, and artist.

Born in 4 October 1720 and dying on 9 November 1778, he is famous for his prolific etchings of Rome and of fictitious "prisons".

Piranesi is famous because of the accuracy and fine detail in his prints. But to really appreciate his work, it is necessary to gain an understanding of the lengthy processes involved.

Firstly, what is the difference between etching and engraving? They both create images from, or on, metal, such as a hard, flat surface for printmaking.

Engraving is a printmaking method where the artist uses a sharp and pointed tool, referred to as burin, to cut lines into a metal surface, in a process called incising. Ink is then spread over the surface and the ink is forced into the grooves made with the burin. The plate is then pressed, either by machine or by hand. It is a process mainly used to make jewellery, silverware, and other ornaments. Copper is the most ideal metal used for engraving because it is soft, though engraving is commonly done on silver, nickel, steel, brass, gold, titanium.
Engraving is often preferred due to the fact that it requires less effort than etching.

Etching, on the other hand, produces an image with the use of acid which removes the metal, as opposed to cutting the metal surface with a tool. A layer of wax is applied to cover the surface, which is resistant to the acids being used. Using a sharp, pointed tool, the desired image is then drawn through the wax. Acid is then applied to the surface, which penetrates the lines drawn through the wax, which eats away the metal below.

There are various types of etching, such as glass etching, water etching, laser etching, dry etching. But back in Piranesi’s time in the mid-1700s, the process was done with metal plates and was extremely hands on, with a number of different people working on each stage.

The real genius of this process is that the resulting lines give the appearance of fine pencil drawing. Moreover, the depth of the lines drawn through the wax, and the number of times the plate is dipped into the acid bath enables the creation of lighter and darker lines, and therefore the perspective, in the picture.

The fine detail, light, shade and perspective in Piranesi’s work, which I am sure you can see in the following images, is just incredible.