Thursday, January 11, 2018

Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1761). The Lion Bas-Relief [etching and engraving]. From the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.

The figures and constructs are visually developed, but their arrangement ambiguous subject matter call attention to the this work’s conceptual purpose. The horizontal and oblique grid system arranges forms and space quite effectively for its organizational and seamless qualities. Each ground (fore, mid and back) is bound together through interpenetrating and gestalt relationships. 
The full range of values is applied and arranged in an effective way. They create an interplay of dense, middling and light tones, building a slightly flattened spatial relationship. Depth is crafted by the midground’s planar recession
and the far-off scenes treated with a lowered and centered range of values. 

While the composition is stable, it is infused with a complicated and straight-forward network of forces. The orientation of the canvas complements the vertical flow of the architectural elements, which also has competing oblique angles. Figures are arranged and directed at perpendicular angles, which both complements and conflicts with the before-mentioned structure. This network of forces becomes this work’s greatest strength when the measured installation of curved and rounded forms breaks up its rigid angularity. 


One of the interesting contrasts this work possesses is how most of the portals and some of the figures feel naturally scaled to the convenience of mankind, in opposition a monumental interpretation of their scale. Each area of this composition demands attention. The general restriction of the lightest tones to the impending execution area is supported by the directional flow of the perspective lines and the pattern created by the arcade. The brooding, dense treatment and lowered position of the lions hint at a sense of horror. 


The placement of the observer does more than anything to give this work its fantastical character. Natural scenery, sparse and impossibly framed in the far-distance, build and elevate it to heights that disregard the idea of a horizon line. More importantly, the observer is placed on the same plane as the beasts, who are ignoring more convenient prey for one moments away from being available. 


The basic subject is an execution placed in a fantasy-setting. Architecture is monumental beyond human capability. The lions communicate mindless violence and are treated more as nightmare-borne monsters. A number of latent and ingenious interest-generating conflicts are installed which both dictate attention and provide a sense of unification. Overall a harmonious balance is struck due to Piranesi’s sense of subtlety. 


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