The Piranesi Vase

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This Piranesi Vase originates from Giovanni Battista Piranesi's workshop. Created between 1720-1778, it is a composite work assembled from an ancient Roman funerary urn and two double hermae, with the rest added recently. According to legend, this vase was discovered in the ruins of Emperor Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli. However, it was actually composed by skilled craftsmen at Giovanni Battista Piranesi's workshop, a renowned Italian engraver and antiquarian. The body of the vase is formed from an ancient Roman puteal, a stone barrier surrounding a well dating back to the era of the Flavian emperors in the 1st century AD. It features new parts, including a cover, rim, numerous handle insets, a Silenus mask, and pedestal. The vase's bottom, vine-shaped handles, and handle bases shaped like a Silenus protome were carefully selected by Piranesi from various fragments, which did not originally belong to the same object. This is evident in the way the fragment with a protome was cut into the bottom. These fragments can be attributed to neo-Attic craftsmen and date back to the 1st century BC. If indeed found in Tivoli, they would have been part of rich villas' decorations before Emperor Hadrian's time.