Title Plate 

Editor: This is Giovanni Battista Piranesi's "Title Plate," an etching and engraving. It's just incredible – the perspective is dizzying. All those architectural details converging. What can you tell me about it? Curator: What strikes me immediately is the inscription: "Carceri Invenzione." It declares these fantastical prisons as inventions. Think about the social context: 18th-century printmaking. Etchings and engravings weren't just art; they were a means of disseminating architectural ideas, fantasies even, to a wider audience. Editor: So, it's about showing off skill and imagination? Curator: Exactly! Consider the materials. Copper plates, acid, the engraver’s burin – tools for mass production. These weren't unique objects destined for a palace wall. They were relatively affordable and widely available. Editor: It seems contradictory, a mass-produced artwork about imprisonment and restriction. Curator: And perhaps intentionally so! The labour involved in creating the plate is rigorous, but it gives the impression of endless dark spaces. How does the contrast in light impact your sense of this place? Editor: It's oppressive. So much black ink, emphasizing shadows. Makes the architecture seem even more immense and inescapable. What was the role of fantasy architecture? Curator: That's it exactly! Piranesi isn't just depicting architecture; he’s constructing a critical social commentary about confinement. Mass production making available these intricate prints asks viewers to question labor within prisons in an industrial setting. Editor: I hadn't considered that! Thanks for pointing out the details about its reproduction - now it makes perfect sense! Curator: Indeed, understanding the process makes these fantasy artworks very tactile and real.