Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Etcher whose views of Roman ruins shaped how Europe imagined antiquity for a century, exaggerating scale to make the remains overwhelming. His imaginary prisons, vast and windowless, were admired by the Romantics for reasons he did not intend. Trained as an architect and built almost nothing.

• Lived: 1720 CE – 1778 CE
• Nationality: italian
• Roles: engraver, architect