Exhibition: Theatres of Time: Glory, Decay, and Imagination in Piranesi's Rome
- Date 19 November 2025 - 12.00 p.m. - 29 November 2025 - 6.00 p.m.
- Location The Kendrew Barn Gallery
For Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–1778), the past was never lost—it was a foundation upon which new worlds could be built. A prolific printmaker, architect, designer, proto-archaeologist, and polemicist, Piranesi created over a thousand etchings of Rome and its monuments, transforming the Eternal City into a vast theatre of imagination. His fantastical architectural designs invite viewers to wander through spaces where the splendour of the ancient world confronts the creativity of the visionary mind.
Although a devoted champion of Rome’s classical heritage, Piranesi was born in Venice. His dual Venetian and Roman background, together with his multifaceted training, allowed him to fuse the grandeur of Roman antiquity with the dramatic invention of Venetian art. Through his works, ranging from ancient monuments executed with archaeological precision to atmospheric vistas and dreamlike prisons that defy the limits of perspective, Piranesi reveals himself as both captivated by the past and defiantly modern in spirit.
Consequently, his etchings stage an ongoing dialogue between memory and creation. For Piranesi, Rome is a city perpetually reborn—simultaneously glorious and decayed, real and imagined. His art embodies the tension between reverence for antiquity and the indomitable drive to surpass it. A visionary of restless spirit, his works do not merely document ancient architecture—they reinvent it, asserting that invention itself is a form of preservation.
Piranesi’s views of Rome remind us that ruins are never silent: they speak of human ambition, of beauty reclaimed from destruction, and of imagination’s enduring power to outlast stone. As he once remarked of his contemporaries, “They despise my novelty and humble birth, I their cowardly conservatism.” His challenge to transcend time persists, urging us to see the past not as something gone, but as something still unfolding.
Visiting the exhibition
The exhibition will be open daily from 12 - 6 PM. All are welcome to explore the works during these opening hours.
Curator Eunice Yu will lead two tours of the exhibition:
- Wednesday 19 November, 4.30 PM
- Wednesday 26 November, 4.30 PM
Although there is no need to book, please arrive promptly for the start of the tour.
