Art Institute of Chicago

The Pyramid of Gaius Cestius, from Views of Rome

Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian, 1720-1778)

Date

1750/59, published 1800–07

Medium

Etching on heavy ivory laid paper

Culture

Italy

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

One of two Piranesi engravings of the Pyramid of Cestius, this etching was published posthumously by the artist’s sons. The pyramid was essential viewing for many who undertook the Grand Tour in the 18th and 19th centuries. Constructed c. 18 b.c./c. 12 b.c. as a tomb for the powerful Roman magistrate Gaius Cestius, the marble-clad structure is reminiscent of the Roman fad for all things Egyptian. In fact, the similarity of the tomb to the pyramids of Nubia suggests that Cestius served on a military campaign in Egypt. Today Cestius’s well-preserved tomb remains Rome’s only existing ancient Egyptian-style pyramid.

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