Luigi Rossini (1790–1857) was an Italian artist, best known for his

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...

s of ancient Roman architecture.

Early life

Rossini was born in

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

,Luigi Rossini, ''Le città del Lazio'', 1826, edizione di Vincenzo Pacifici, Tivoli, 1943, pp. 7–2

/ref> and studied at the academy of

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

with

Antonio Basoli Antonio Basoli (1774–1848) was an Italian painter, interior designer, scenic designer, and engraver, active mostly in Bologna. Biography He was born in Castel Guelfo. His first teacher was his father, Lelio Andrea Basoli. His education was m ...

and

Giovanni Antonio Antolini Giovanni Antonio Antolini (11 September 175311 March 1841) was an Italian architect and writer. His most ambitious work was the uncompleted Foro Bonaparte at Milan, an idealistic and visionary project later modified by Luigi Canonica. Antolini's ...

, graduating in 1813 as an architect and artist.

Career

Like his predecessor

Giovanni Battista Piranesi Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (; also known as simply Piranesi; 4 October 1720 – 9 November 1778) was an Italian classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric " ...

, Rossini focused on extant antique Roman architecture and excavations in Rome and its environs, and rendered in exquisite detail classical architecture of Rome and its surrounding countryside. In contrast to Piranesi, he made greater use of the bucolic settings in his etchings of Roman ruins. His images of the architectural masterpieces of ancient Rome, including the Pantheon, the

Coliseum The Colosseum ( ; , ultimately from Ancient Greek word "kolossos" meaning a large statue or giant) is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ...

, the

Appian Way The Appian Way (Latin and Italian language, Italian: Via Appia) is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient Roman Republic, republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is in ...

, the Temple of Peace, and the Golden House of

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

, have greatly influenced architects, artists, writers, and other connoisseurs of Roman culture up to the present day. His first series of views was published in 1814. He began his Roman antiquities series in 1819, completing 101 large folio plates which were published in Rome in 1825.

Gallery

File:Via dei Sepolcri in Pompei, Luigi Rossini, Rome, 1830.jpg, ''Via dei Sepolcri in Pompei'', Rome, 1830. File:Rossini - viaggio pittoresco tav19 - veduta di Roma vecchia.jpg, A view of the

Villa of the Quintilii The Villa of the Quintilii (Italian: Villa dei Quintili) is a monumental ancient Roman villa beyond the fifth milestone along the Via Appia Antica just outside the traditional boundaries of Rome, Italy. It was built by the rich and cultured Quin ...

from Rossini's ''Viaggio pittoresco da Roma a Napoli'', 1839 File:Quirinal Hill Luigi Rossini.jpg, An etching of the

Quirinal Hill The Quirinal Hill (; ; ) is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the official residence of the Italian head of state, who resides in the Quirinal Palace; by metonymy "the Quirinal" has c ...

, crowned by the mass of the Palazzo del Quirinale, from Rossini's I Sette Colli di Roma antica e moderna'' published in 1827 File:Luigi Rossini-Piazza Barberini.jpg, View of the Piazza Barberini, 1848

References and sources

;References ;Sources * Nullo Pirazzoli, ''Luigi Rossini (1790–1857). Roma antica restaurata'', Ravenna, Edizioni Essegi, 1990

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossini, Luigi 1790 births 1857 deaths Italian etchers 19th-century etchers Artists from the Papal States People from Ravenna 19th-century Italian artists