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The So-called Villa of Maecenas, Tivoli (Avanzi della Villa de Mecenate a Tivoli)
The So-called Villa of Maecenas, Tivoli (Avanzi della Villa de Mecenate a Tivoli)
The So-called Villa of Maecenas, Tivoli (Avanzi della Villa de Mecenate a Tivoli)

The So-called Villa of Maecenas, Tivoli (Avanzi della Villa de Mecenate a Tivoli)

Maker (Italian, 1720-1778)
Date1763
MediumEtching
DimensionsPlate (trimmed): 17 5/8 × 26 3/8 in. (44.8 × 67 cm)
Matted: 28 × 36 in. (71.1 × 91.4 cm)
Credit LineUniversity Transfer from Max Epstein Archive, Gift of the Carnegie Corporation
Object number1967.116.162
Object TypePrints
On View
Not on view
Maecenas, the wealthy patron of Horace, Virgil, and other literary figures, had a palatial villa constructed at Tivoli where he could entertain guests during the hot Roman summers. The villa was bequeathed to Octavian (Emperor Augustus) at the death of Maecenas, who had long served as the emperor’s close advisor.

Piranesi’s etching brings the viewer up close to the edifice and allows him or her to sense the texture of each stone, column, and ragged tree.
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