136 — Piranesi 1 — Prima Parte

136 — Piranesi 1 — Prima Parte

From About Buildings + Cities by Architecture, History + Culture, with Luke Jones & George Gingell

March 27, 2026 · 54 min · Season 1

About this episode

The episode discusses Piranesi's background, early works, and sets the stage for a four-part series on his oeuvre.

In the first part of our new series on Piranesi we discussed his upbringing and background in Venice, his earliest travels to Rome and first work with Giuseppe Vasi and Tiepolo. We talked a little about the historical and cultural context of Piranesi’s work, before getting stuck into his Prima parte di Architettura e Prospettive (1743) and Varie Vedute di Roma Antica e Moderna (1745), and start to map out the rest of his oeuvre that will form the rest of the series. This is the first episode of a four part series about Piranesi, and there will be bonus episodes forthcoming on Patreon about his legacy and works of art and literature inspired by it. You can watch this episode on YouTube to follow along with the images: https://youtu.be/QUY4Yw2kxmk Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Mixing by Lewis Todd. Support the show on Patreon to receive bonus content for every show. Please rate and review the show on your podcast store to help other people find us! Follow us on twitter // instagram // facebook We’re on the web at aboutbuildingsandcities.org This podcast is powered by Pinecast .

People in this episode

Hosts: Luke Jones, George Gingell

Topics covered

  • Piranesi
  • architecture
  • art history
  • cultural context
  • Venice
  • Rome

Keywords

  • Piranesi
  • architecture
  • art
  • Venice
  • Rome
  • historical context
  • cultural influence

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Patreon, YouTube, aboutbuildingsandcities.org

Books & works: Prima parte di Architettura e Prospettive, Varie Vedute di Roma Antica e Moderna

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