# View of the Remains of the Praetorian Fort \[the Poecile\], Hadrian's Villa, Tivoli, from Views of Rome

**Giovanni Battista Piranesi** (Italian, 1720–1778)  
1770  
Etching on heavy ivory laid paper  
Image: 36.6 × 64.9 cm (14 7/16 × 25 9/16 in.); Plate: 37.3 × 65.6 cm (14 11/16 × 25 7/8 in.); Sheet: 56 × 72.4 cm (22 1/16 × 28 9/16 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1927.4799. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/48121).

## About this work

The towering walls of a great enclosure at Hadrian’s Villa near Tivoli, known in Piranesi’s day as the Praetorian Fort or the Poecile, stand in ruins. Piranesi etched the view in 1770 for his Vedute di Roma, the series of large views of Rome and its surroundings that he issued over three decades and that shaped how generations of Grand Tour travellers imagined the ancient world. He also studied and surveyed Hadrian’s Villa extensively, and his views combine close observation with a theatrical sense of scale.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Giovanni Battista Piranesi made this in 1770, aged 50. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of etching 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.
- **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 50
- Real size: about 14 × 25 in (36 × 64 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/155.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/155/1920.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
- 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
- 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
- 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

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/view-of-the-remains-of-the-praetorian-fort-the-poecile-hadri-aic-48121).