The Roman antiquities, t. 4, Plate XLV. Vista of the great capitals of the columns of the Temple of Juno in the Portico d`Ottavia. 

This is an engraving by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, depicting details of the Temple of Juno, dating to the 18th century. He was a master of this graphic medium, using acid to bite into a copper plate, which was then inked and printed. Piranesi was less interested in the ancient Roman techniques of marble carving than in the sheer scale and ambition of the architecture itself. The strong lines and tonal contrasts evoke the weight and texture of the stone, and the skill required to shape it. Note the precision of his lines, which delineate every detail of the Corinthian capital: the acanthus leaves, volutes, and abacus. Yet the print also conveys the intense labor of quarrying, transporting, and erecting these massive forms, dwarfing the viewer. Piranesi's prints were widely distributed, fueling the 18th-century obsession with antiquity. By focusing on the materiality and making of Roman architecture, Piranesi elevated the status of both the ancient builders and his own printmaking practice.