Piranesi, Giambattista (Giovanni Battista) (1720–1778)

Italian architect and graphic artist. He made powerful etchings of Roman antiquities and was an influential theorist of architecture, advocating imaginative use of Roman models. His series of etchings Carceri d'Invenzione/Prisons of Invention (c. 1745–61) depicts imaginary prisons, vast and gloomy.

Only one of his architectural designs was built: Sta Maria del Priorato, Rome. His powerful etchings of Roman antiquities evoked ruined grandeur; his Vedute (views of Rome), published from 1745, proved very popular. He was born in Venice.