Chiseled features: Piranesi's Eternal City

The first author of souvenir postcards was probably Giambattista Piranesi (1720-1778). Using amazing skill and precision, his Vedute di Roma (or, Views of Rome) are the most precise documents of how the Eternal City looked in the 18th century. The Historical Library of the Complutense University of Madrid has one of the most complete collections of engravings by Piranesi and his son Francesco: in total, more than a thousand prints that account for at least 90 percent of the production of both artists. These are now on display for the first time.

Given the large size of the vedute - some measure 50 by 70 centimeters - only 40 of them have been selected for the show. "The views of Rome are very important for their documentary value, because they show places as they were in the 18th century," explains Manuel Lizárraga, curator of the exhibition. But Piranesi was not just concerned about picking up the tiniest architectural details. "In his vedute he also included scenes of daily life - passers-by, vendors, beggars," adds Lizá-rraga. The selection adds up to a tour of Roman basilicas, monuments, public spaces, returning time and again to the famous ruins of classical Rome.

The 20-year-old Piranesi arrived in Rome from his native Venice, where he had trained as an engraver. He saw there was a market for small city views, which were snapped up by tourists. These were the days of the Grand Tour, the peregrination around classical and Renaissance heritage that began among European aristocracy in the 17th century.

"Piranesi revolutionized the market because he decided to make views of a huge size, with an unequalled amount of room for detail," the curator says. The commercial success of his vedute gave him time for serious study of Roman antiquity: "Piranesi was a theorist who always postulated the supremacy of this architecture over the Greek or the barbarian kind." His oeuvre reflects his various interests. There is the young visionary who imagined fantastic architecture, whimsical structures such as his famous carceri (prisons); then the passionate archeologist who analyzes and reproduces ruins almost scientifically. But Piranesi the vedutista evolved from 1748 to his death in 1778. "As you progress through the views you appreciate his stylistic evolution," says Lizárraga.

Giambattista Piranesi en la Biblioteca Histórica: vedute di Roma. Until September 9 at Biblioteca Histórica de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, C/ Noviciado 3, Madrid. www.ucm.es/BUCM