# The Round Tower, from "Carceri d'invenzione" (Imaginary Prisons)

**Giovanni Battista Piranesi** (Italian, 1720–1778)  
ca. 1749–50  
Etching, engraving, sulphur tint or open bite, burnishing; first state of four (Robison)  
Sheet: 24 13/16 x 19 1/2 in. (63 x 49.5 cm) Plate: 21 7/16 x 16 5/16 in. (54.5 x 41.5 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 37.45.3(27). [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/337725).

## About this work

A great circular tower rises within a cavernous prison, ringed by stairs, galleries and beams that lead nowhere certain. This impression is of the first state, printed around 1749–50, when Piranesi’s Imaginary Prisons were still airy and sketch-like, etched with a free, rapid line that owes much to stage design. A decade later he reworked the plates with heavy shading and added detail, turning them into darker, more oppressive visions. An early state like this reveals the bold improvisation at the heart of the series.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Giovanni Battista Piranesi made this in about 1749–50, aged about 24. It is now at The Met in New York.

### 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.

### [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: Prints
- The artist was about 24
- Real size: about 21 × 16 in (55 × 42 cm). The 16 × 20 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 18th century
- Subjects: Prisons, Stairs
- Colour: grey
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1030.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1030/1920.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
- 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
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- 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

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-round-tower-from-carceri-d-invenzione-imaginary-prisons-met-337725).