The Gothic Arch, from Carceri d'invenzione

Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778) was an Italian architect, printmaker, and antiquarian whose visionary etchings transformed architectural representation. Born near Venice, he moved to Rome in 1740, where he developed his signature style combining archaeological precision with dramatic imagination.

While renowned for his meticulous documentation of Roman ruins in works like "Vedute di Roma," Piranesi's most influential achievement was his "Carceri d'Invenzione" (Imaginary Prisons) series. Created primarily in the 1750s, these nightmarish architectural fantasies depicted vast, labyrinthine prison interiors with impossible staircases, towering vaults, and mysterious mechanical devices. The series presents spaces of psychological oppression that seem to extend infinitely.

The "Carceri" transcended mere architectural studies to become powerful psychological landscapes that would later influence Romanticism, Surrealism, and even modern cinema. Their dreamlike spatial distortions and atmospheric chiaroscuro revealed Piranesi's genius for manipulating scale and perspective.

Though primarily known as an etcher rather than a builder, Piranesi's profound influence on aesthetic theory and architectural imagination established him as one of the most original artistic minds of the 18th century.