Architectural decoration 

This architectural decoration was etched by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, who lived in 18th-century Venice and Rome. Piranesi was a master printmaker, so the line work is paramount here. Look closely, and you'll see that his etched lines aren't just descriptive. They actually *build* the forms, giving them a sculptural presence. Think about the labor involved; the sheer hours required to create this level of detail with such control. What Piranesi is offering isn't just a picture of classical architecture. It's a meditation on how buildings come into being. He's foregrounding the artistic process, and also suggesting an analogy between the printmaker's skill and the stonemason's. Ultimately, Piranesi dissolves the boundaries between art, design, and craft. His work reveals the intellectual and physical work that goes into designing and making, which is what gives architecture its grandeur, both literally and figuratively.