The great Italian graphic master Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–78) did not originally plan to become a professional artist. He initially studied to be an architect before moving on to graphic art. Piranesi’s wide-ranging education, curious nature and powerful imagination, combined with his technical skill in graphics, led to unprecedented results. Piranesi created completely new visions of familiar sites in Rome – as well as a new way to depict landscapes.
In addition to graphic works, the exhibition features a video projection in which the Carceri d’invenzione series has been converted into a nearly tangible real-life space though 3D modelling technology. Watching the video has been described as ‘entering Piranesi’s mind’.