CUSTOMS OFFICE at St. Peter's Square in Rome, 1752 (ed. 1761-78)
Veduta della Dogana di Terra a Piazza di Pietra
Etching, paper; 54 x 70 cm (light frame)
Author's print from "Vedute di Roma"
Piranesi originally trained as an architect and settled in Rome in 1744, fascinated by the city's architecture. Starting in 1747, he engraved his "Vedute di Roma" himself and offered them in single sheets. From 1761 he moved to Palazzo Tomati, where he engraved and printed his engravings in his own publishing house and sold them to travelers, especially English travelers.
