Rome – San Lorenzo
World class
Detail
Date of first edition: 1749
Date of this map: 1749
Dimensions (copper plate, not including margins): 38 x 68,5 cm
Dimensions (including margins): 50 x 77 cm
Condition: mint. Sharp copper engraving printed on very strong laid paper. Very wide margins.
Condition rating: A+
Verso: blank
References: Wilton-Ely, 186; Hind, 12; Focillon, 730. At the bottom, within a cartouche, title and number “19” from the series “Vedute di Roma”, further down “1. Via Tiburtina” in the middle “Presso l’Autore”, on the right “Piranesi F.”
In stock
San Lorenzo
he Basilica Papale di San Lorenzo fuori le mura (Papal Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls) is a Roman Catholic papal minor basilica and parish church, located in Rome. The Basilica is one of the Seven Pilgrim Curches of Rome and one of the five former “patriarchal basilicas”, each of which was assigned to the care of the Latin church patriarchate. The Basilica was assigned to the Patriarchate of Jezrusalem. The Basilica is the shrine of the tomb of its namesake, Saint Lawrence (sometimes spelled “Laurence”), one of the first seven deacons of Rome who was martyred in 258. Many other saints (and also Pope Pius IX) are also buried at the Basilica, which is the center of a large and ancient burial complex.
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Giovanni Battista Piranesi was born in 1720 in Mogliano, Veneto. He studied engraving with Giuseppe Vasi in Rome. In his professional life he was active both as an engraver and an architect. His two main publications were Prima parte di Architettura e Prospettive (1743), followed in 1745 by Varie Vedute di Roma Antica e Moderna. He is these days most famous for his series of views of Rome.
The Basilica was home to the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from 1374 to 1847. In 1943 the Basilica was bombed by American planes during WW II. Restoration continued until 1948, allowing some accretions from the 19th century to be removed. However, the frescoes on the facade were destroyed.