Observations on the Letter of Monsieur Mariette: With Thoughts on Architecture, and a Preface to a New Treatise on the Introduction, and Progress of the Fine Arts in Europe in Ancient Times

Published in 1765, Giovanni Battista Piranesi's Osservazioni is an impassioned defense of the superiority of Roman architectural "invention" over the "beautiful and noble simplicity" of ancient Greece. In this three-part polemical masterpiece, the famed engraver and designer not only contends that the Etruscans-not the Greeks-were the artistic mentors of the Romans but also argues for a Roman-inspired exuberance in design that draws freely on all forms and traditions of ancient art. Although …