# The Lion Bas-Reliefs, plate 5 from Imaginary Prisons

**Giovanni Battista Piranesi** (Italian, 1720–1778)  
1761  
Etching and engraving on heavy ivory laid paper  
Image: 56.6 × 41.4 cm (22 5/16 × 16 5/16 in.); Plate: 56.6 × 41.4 cm (22 5/16 × 16 5/16 in.); Sheet: 78.9 × 58.5 cm (31 1/8 × 23 1/16 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.5595. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/7353).

## About this work

Vast stairways, arches and bridges recede into the gloom of an imaginary prison, while in the foreground stand massive relief panels carved with lions. The plate belongs to Piranesi’s Carceri d’invenzione, or Imaginary Prisons, first etched around 1750 and dramatically reworked for a second edition in 1761, when he darkened the plates and added new architectural detail and inscriptions. These fantasies, more vision than plan, have fascinated writers, architects and filmmakers ever since.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Giovanni Battista Piranesi made this in 1761, aged 41. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of etching and engraving on heavy ivory laid paper.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Etching.** The artist draws with a needle through a waxy coating on a copper plate, and acid bites the exposed lines. The plate is then inked, wiped and printed under pressure, so the line keeps the freedom of drawing.
- **Engraving.** Lines cut directly into a metal plate with a steel burin, which makes them swell and taper. It took years to master, and for centuries it was how paintings travelled as pictures.
- **Laid paper.** Handmade on a mould of close-set wires, which leave fine parallel lines you can see when the sheet is held to the light.

### [Giovanni Battista Piranesi](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/giovanni-battista-piranesi)

Italian, 1720–1778; born in Mogliano Veneto; died in Rome

Piranesi trained in Venice as an architect and stage designer before moving to Rome in 1740, where he spent the rest of his life. He is known above all for his etchings: the Views of Rome, more than a hundred large plates of ancient ruins and modern buildings, and the Imaginary Prisons, vast fantastical interiors of stairs, arches and machinery. A passionate champion of Roman architecture, he also published archaeological studies and designed the church of Santa Maria del Priorato.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Print
- Culture: Italy
- The artist was 41
- Real size: about 22 × 16 in (56 × 41 cm). The 18 × 24 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 18th century
- Movement: [Rococo](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/rococo)
- Colour: white
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/12.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/12/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-lion-bas-reliefs-plate-5-from-imaginary-prisons-aic-7353).