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Christie’s tells the story of “Souvenirs from the Grand Tour”
October 1, 2018
In the 90’s and early 00’s, Christie’s lead the way in making the market in Grand Tour souvenirs. For collectors, their annual sales were much anticipated and closely followed. Thus, it is a particularly resonant satisfaction to offer, with Christie’s, a group of especially grand, Grand Tour architectural models. The Catalog for their October 23 sale in […]
Piraneseum in Christie’s Exceptional Sale, April 20, 2018
March 27, 2018
Though focused on architectural mementos, occasionally our attention wanders. We are only human. Several years ago, at a sale in Italy, we came across a very beautiful inlaid marble tabletop, apparently from the latter part of the sixteenth century. After the usual rigmarole involving export licenses, customs clearances, etc., it found its way here. Lucia […]
“Casanova: The Seduction of Europe” Illuminates 18th C. Europe with a Spectacular Group of Paintings
March 27, 2018
Casanova: The Seduction of Europe, at San Francisco’s Legion of Honor through May 28, 2018, is a remarkable installation conceived as a romp through 18th C. Venice, Paris, and London in the footsteps of Giacomo Casanova (Venice 1725 – 1798 Dux, Bohemia). A spectacular assemblage of paintings by Canaletto, Bernardo Belloto, Francesco Guardi, Francois Boucher, […]
A House or A Museum? Piraneseum video by Curbed.com
January 21, 2018
Two years ago, Curbed, the multi-city Amercian blog featuring “all things home” posted A Pair of Architects Create a Home for their Grand Collection, an extensively-photographed, well-written description of our assemblage of 17th – 19th century architectural souvenirs. Late last year, Curbed was again in touch, proposing a short video about the collection. A day […]
A Re-discovered 17th c. Capriccio By Giovanni Ghisolfi is Identified and Conserved by Piraneseum
January 6, 2018
A year ago, in an out of the way German sale, we became intrigued with an old, darkened, architectural canvas. Peering through the cloudy, yellowed, cigar smoke-scented varnish, we thought we made out several elements characteristic of the later 17th century Roman ruins painter Giovanni Ghisolfi (Milan 1623 – 1683) (fig. 1). Telltale signs, in […]
All Roads Lead to Rome – SFO Museum Exhibition of Architectural Mementos From Piraneseum’s Collection
November 22, 2017
All Roads Lead to Rome 17th – 19th Century Architectural Souvenirs from the Collection of Piraneseum SFO Museum, International Terminal January – August, 2017 Among the abiding pleasures of our collection are the opportunities to share it with friends and acquaintances, as well as those we don’t know, butwho may be intrigued. Over the past […]
Chrysler Museum Acquires Rare 19th C. Tabletop for its Celebrated Collection
May 5, 2017
The Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia, has just added Piraneseum’s specimen marble and micromosaic table top to it’s celebrated glass collection. This highly unusual, 22-3/4” diameter Roman micromosaic and specimen marble tabletop was made in Rome for the 1876 U. S. Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Surrounding a central micromosaic medallion bordered in green malachite […]
Vernet Drawing, Picturing Himself, Piranesi, and Clerisseau Sketching at Hadrian’s Villa, Highlights “All Roads Lead to Rome”
January 20, 2017
Claude-Joseph Vernet (1714-1789) Artists Sketching at Hadrian’s Villa brown ink, wash, and body color on laid paper 24 x 35 cm., c. 1746 One of the most remarkable objects shown for the first time in Piraneseum’s recent exhibit, All Roads Lead to Rome (January – August 2017, San Francisco International Terminal), was this drawing. Three of the […]
Piraneseum Ghisolfi Capriccio is Cover of Monumental New Work About Italian Ruins Paintings
May 5, 2015
Giovanni Ghisolfi (Milan 1623 – 1683) Capriccio with Figures among Roman Ruins oil on canvas, 65 x 48.5 cm. Historian Giancarlo Sestieri has just published the definitive work on the genre of paintings known as Architectural Capricci, or architectural ruins paintings. Piraneseum’s Capriccio with Figures Among Roman Ruins, by Giovanni Ghisolfi, was selected as the cover image […]
Tiffany & Co. Archives Acquires Piraneseum’s 19th C. Model of New York’s Cleopatra’s Needle, Made by Tiffany & Co.
March 5, 2015
Cleopatra’s Needle, New York patinated bronze 15″ h., ca. 1881 Tiffany & Co. The Tiffany & Co. Archives contacted Piraneseum to purchase this model – for they didn’t have one! The Archives intend to assemble a collection of the most significant objects produced by Tiffany & Co., and the Cleopatra’s Needle Obelisk is one of the […]
