PIRANESI. Veduta del Porto di Ripa Grande.

Etching, bulin and drypoint; mm. 406x618. Wide margins. Print proof, before the 'Bouchard and Gravier' address. rinted on strong laid paper with trace of an unidentified watermark. At the foot, legend of the places represented, in the center the Title; bottom right: 'Piranesi Architect made' Excellent condition.

Extremely rare print proof, unknown to Hind. The rare first state of this beautiful view bears the address of the publishers at the bottom right: "They are sold in Rome by the Saints Bouchard and Gravier merchant booksellers at Corso near S. Marcello". In the second state, Piranesi becomes his own publisher, deleting the address of Bouchard and Gravier and adding his own. The substantial difference between the first two states and the next four, lies in the fact that the boat loaded with wood in the center of the Tiber is completely erased from the third state onwards. Hind, for the First Estate: “I. Address: Bouchard and Gravier. With barge in center of canal loaded high with timber, and with its mast crossing the building numered I." The plate was then included in the prestigious collection of 'Views of Rome'. The work consists of 135 plates produced individually by Piranesi for at least 30 years, from around 1745 to the date of his death. They were first published by the publisher Giovanni Bouchard (34 plates), then by the same Piranesi publisher at Palazzo Tomati in Rome (written that appears on many plates). On the author's death, the plates were inherited by his son Francesco, who edited their publication first in Rome, then in Paris. The plates were later acquired by the Chamber Chalcography, today National Chalcography, where they are still preserved. The different states of the plates, on which Piranesi himself intervened in the course of his life, have been identified by Hind.