The Impossible Space -Analysis of Piranesi's Etchings

摘要

Giovanni Battista Piranesi is one of the most famous artists of 18th century. Among his series of prints "Carceri" have been thought to be his most mysterious provocative one because it includes some plates that are inconsistent supposing one perspective flame. In this paper we take pl.14 and demonstrate its inconsistency and the process of its bringing out. The analysis is as follows. ① Point out some sets of elements which are inconsistent in one perspective flame; ② Point out other elements which define the relation among the former elements; ③ We propose a hypothesis to answer why the ambiguity or impossible space was brought about; ④ Investing the modifications from the first edition to the second edition with a comparison to a preparatory sketch, we can justify the following hypothesis: i.e. the ambiguity of pl.14 is unintentional and a result of inserting flights of stairs, whose factor is the lines or brush vestiges suggesting a new interpretation. Through the above process we could define characters of his impossible space and demonstrate his unusual perspective method. We hope Piranesi's example can propose some clues which can help to create a new educational method for representation of 3-dimensional space.