VEDUTA DELL'ESTERNO DELLA GRAN BASILICA DI S. PIETRO IN VATICANO; GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIRANESI, ETCHING,circa 1748–1759 Large-scale etching by Giovanni Battista Piranesi presents a sweeping exterior view of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, its towering dome designed by Michelangelo rising majestically above the apse and surrounding Vatican structures. The composition, part of the artist's celebrated “Vedute di Roma” series, includes an explanatory inscribed caption below the image identifying key features including the site of the mosaic workshop, the sacristy, the great dome with its bronze ball, the Vatican hill, and remnants of ancient granite and porphyry columns from the Circus of Nero, upon whose foundations the basilica was partly built. Framed. Not examined out of frame. plate measures approximately 15 13/16 by 24 inches.; frame: 23 x 32 inches $800-1,200
