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Both his Vedute (Views) and his famous Carceri (Prisons) largely owe their magic to the influence of the theatre of the time.

Piranesi, who had already become acquainted with this scene in Venice, picked up on these ideas and used them to dramatise his compositions. In the 18th century, theatre was a big business, for which artists designed stage sets and decorations, and in doing so revolutionised the viewing habits of their audiences. Performances took place not only in private residences, but also on the street and in public squares, where religious festivities were staged as elaborate spectacles. Opera and theatre have been influential mass media since the Baroque era. And it was here that he found his clientele and his audience: artists, art scholars, archaeologists, antiques and art dealers came from all over the world to make their fortune in the ‘eternal city’ – or, like Piranesi himself – to earn their immortality. It was in this context that Piranesi found the motifs for his images and architectural visions, collected artefacts for his “Museo”, and conducted research into art and architectural history – the results of which he published in monumental works such as the Antichità Romane (1756). While today’s tourists marvel at the city’s ancient ruins in an urban setting, in the 18th century the Venetian-born artist lived and worked in a city surrounded by a landscape of ruins, in which monuments overgrown by plants protruded from the ground. The exhibition begins with a trip back through time to Piranesi’s Rome. It is centred around Piranesi’s masterpieces of engraving, his books, pamphlets, satirical illustrations, and drawings from the collections of the Kunstbibliothek and the Kupferstichkabinett, some of which are being shown for the very first time. This exhibition celebrating the 300th anniversary of his birth brings this Piranesi principle back to life in all its creativity. He found inspiration everywhere: in the artifacts of bygone epochs and faraway regions, in images from science, technology and opera, and even in denunciations and defeats. The principle behind his success was to grasp the multifaceted nature of reality and transform it into something new. He carved out an international career as an archaeologist, artist, collector, designer, publisher and author. Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–1778) was one of the great polymaths of the 18th century.