Il libro

The Campo Marzio is a book published by Giovan Battista Piranesi in 1762 after several years of study. In the book, he asserts that his analysis of this vast area of Rome is driven by meticulous archaeological attention, despite many authors interpreting it as a capriccio and a pure invention. In this study, the Iconographia of the Campo Marzio is carefully redrawn, the buildings are divided and arranged according to their size, and each building is related to the Latin catalogue where Piranesi lists all the ancient written sources that describe each building. Despite its compact size, this study opens avenues for reconsidering this astonishing work by Piranesi as an archaeological study rather than a work of fantasy. By isolating each building, it represents the first step towards comparing ancient written descriptions with Piranesi’s drawings.

Scritto da

Marianna Giannini, architect and Ph.D. student at the Architecture and Design Department, Università degli Studi di Genova.   

Vittorio Pizzigoni, architect and professor at the Università degli Studi di Genova and from 2004 founding partner of architectural office Baukuh.   
 

*La versione cartacea di questa mappa è stata stampata rispettando l’ambiente ed è stata piegata all’interno del carcere femminile di Genova Pontedecimo.