One of the greatest printmakers of the eighteenth century, Italian architect Giovanni Battista Piranesi became famous for his etchings of Rome as well as his fictitious, atmospheric "prisons" (Carceri d'invenzione). The principal inspiration for his etchings came from his firsthand examinations of classical antiquities and Renaissance and Baroque structures. Throughout his life, he invented novel compositional devices, exaggerating scale and manipulating perspective with multiple vanishing points. Ultimately, Piranesi’s oeuvre is distinguished by its combination of a remarkable imagination and a deep understanding of construction.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi—also known as Giambattista Piranesi or just Piranesi (1720-1778)—was an Italian classical archaeologist, architect, and artist born in Venice. The son of a stonemason, he studied under Giuseppe Vasi and became one of the greatest printmakers of the eighteenth century.