The sun., 1907-08-11
PIRANEST.

bore stars ~ q llne from wordsworth tnhJ
Thomas DE Quincey spprovingly quotes
in regard TO his opium induced architect
ural Dreams" and, aptly enough, imme-
diatelt after a page devoted TO Piranesi,
the etcher. architect and visionary. You
may find this pdge In The Confessions OF
an English Opium Enter" that book OF
terror. beauty. mystification and fudge
(De Quincey deluded himself quite a. much
~ his readers In this autobiography, which.
like the confessions Of most distinguished
men. must not be taken too literally:
Many years ago he wrote, when ! was looking
over Piranesls Antiquities OF Rome. Mr.. Coieridge.
who was standing by. described TO me set OF
plates by that artist. called his Dreams. when
record the scenery. OF his own soul during the
derium OF fever. Some Of them described only
rom memory OF Mr. Coieridge's aeccunO repre-
sonted vast Gothic hals, the noor Of which stood
all sorts OF engines and machinery expressive Of
cnormous power put forth and resistance overcome.
crespins along the sldrs Of the walls. you per
cstvcd Q staircase. and upon n. cropping his way
upward was Piranes himself. Follow the stairs q
little further and you perceive It 10 come To a sud
dcn. abrupt termination, without any bslustrade,
ana allowing no step onward 10 him who had
reached che extremity. except into the depths
below. whatever 10 To become of poor Piranosif
You suppose. at least, tpst his isbos must in some
way terminate here. But raise your eycs, and
behold second flight of stairs stn higher on which
again Piranesi Is perceived, BY this time standing
on tho very brink Of the abyss. Again elevate
your eye. and Q stul moro aerial flight Of stairs 10
beheid, and again 10 poor Piranesi on his aspiring
lsbcrs, and 10 on. until the unfinished stsirs and
Pranss both are Lost In the upper gloom OF the hall
This plate was evidently ono Of ths Car
carl set-sixteen in an-that the etcher
improvised after some severe cerebral
malsdy. What would we not give to have
heard the post Of -Kubla Khan describing
the fantastic visions Of tho venesisu artist
TO the English opium ester! Tho eloquence
has In IL some faint echoes Of Mr.. Cols-
ridges golden rumble. That thsse two
mon appreciated tho italian 10 scmethinE;
perhaps they saw chiefly In his work its
fantsstio side. There was no saler crafts
man than Piranesi apart from certain of
his plates; no more solid construction In
print can be shown than his var ious
Interpretations Of the classic ruins of
Rome. the temples at Pest,m. He was a
great engraver and etcher whoss passion
was the antique. He deliberately with
drew from all commerce with tho ideas and
art of his own times. He loved architect
ure for arohitecture's sake; not as a
decoration, not as q background for hu-
msnity. but as something personal. 1t was
for him what the human face was for REM
brandt and velssquez. That he was called
the Rembrandt of Architecture is but an
other testimony to the impression he made
upon his contemporaries. though the title is
an unhappy ono. Piranesi even in his own
little fenced or Joign Of art /, not knee
high to the etcher of the Hundred Guiider
prin:, ror are there close ansIogies in their
respective handling Of darks and lights.
II might be nearer the mark to call
Piranesi-and all such comparisons are
thorns in the critical iesh--the Salvador
Rosa Of architecture, for there is much Of
Salvator's unbridled violence, fantasy and
genius for deforming the actual that ia 10
be encountered in some OF Piranesi's
works. Ills was not classic temperament.
The serene. airy, sun bsthed palaces and
temples which C.aaGe introduced into his
fairgrounds are seldom encountered in
Piraneei. A dark Gothic imagination his,
Gothic and often cruel. In his etching OF
public buildings at Rome or elsewhere,
while he Ia not always faultless in drawing
OF scrupulous IN observation, such was the
sincerity and passion of the man that he
has left us the noblest transcriptions of these
stately edifces and monuments. IL ia in
the rhythmic expression OF his personal
moods that his sinister Romantic imagin-
ings are revealed and with detail and full
ness that are positively overwhelming.
1t should not be forgotten that in the
eighteenth and the early part Of the nine
teenth centuries Piranesi achieved wide
spread popularity. He was admired out
side OF Italy. in England. in France and
Germany. generation that In England
read Vathek and Mrs. Radcliffe. supped on
tho horrors OF Melmoth and Frankenstein,
knew Z. T. w. Holman and the German
Romantic literature. could be relied on to
take up Pirancsi. and for his lesser artistic
side. Poe knew his work and Baudelaire; We
see that for De Quinosy he was a kindred
spirit. The English mezzotinter John
Martin must have studied him closely, and
also Gustave Dore. Meryon. the unfortu-
nate etcher. an artistic peer of Piranesi
In the construction of vast architectural
masses, and the Norwegian painter -lithog-
rapher Edward Munoh-now living In Ber-
lin-are two men for whom the ugly. fever
ish and macabre proved lodestones. Nor
must we forget the name Of the Belgian
painter-etcher James Ensor. a Rabe.aisian
genius.
But Martin and Meryon-this pair OF
names is not harressed together because Of
any spiritual resemblance; Meryon was in
fnitely the finer artist of the two, though
hs did rot possess Martins apocalyptio
imaEipaq qon--produoed their best effects In
the open air.
RI. Carceri Q75o, OF Piranesi are indoor
oon,posltions, enclosed spaces in which
wander aimlessiy or deliriously the wraiths
OF damned men, not whit less wretched
nor awful than Dante's immemorial mob.
Piranesi shows us cavernous abodes where
appalling engines Of torture All the fore
ground, while above, at vertiginous height
we barely discern perilous passageways,
haunted windows peerins out upon the high
heavens, stone fretted ceilings that are lost
In a magic mist. By q sort Of diabolio
modulation the artist conducts our eye from
these dizzy angles and granitic oonvol,-
tons down tortuous and tumultuous stair
oases that seemingly wind about the axis Of
eternity. To traverse them would demand
an eternity and the nerves OF q mailman.
Lower barbario devices reveal this art
ist's temperament. He IL said TO have