GIOVANNI B. PIRANESI
Veduta del Porto di Ripa Grande * Veduta del Porto di Ripetta.
Two etchings, 1757 and 1753 respectively. The first 402x615 mm; 15¾x24¼ inches, wide margins. Second state (of 6), with the large barge loaded with wood in the center of the canal and with the address and price * The second 15½x23½ inches, wide margins. Fourth state (of 8), with the address and price. Both from Vedute di Roma. Both superb, richly-inked impressions with very strong contrasts.The Porto di Ripa Grande was the river port of ancient Rome, just downstream from the former Pons Sublicius, where the wares, going up and down the Tiber River towards the dock of Fiumicino (at the sea), were handled. The building of the muraglioni (massive flood prevention walls) at the end of the 19th century has since erased the existence and function of the Porto di Ripa Grande. The Porto di Ripetta was a port in the city of Rome, located in front of the church of San Girolamo degli Schiavoni, designed and built in 1704 by the Italian Baroque architect Alessandro Specchi. Situated on the left bank of the Tiber River (facing south), this was the place to alight for travel downriver; as the Porto di Ripa Grande on the other bank in Trastevere served travel from the seaward side of the city. The Ponte Cavour was constructed across the Tiber and opened in 1901, at which point the Porto di Ripetta was demolished. Hind 27 and 28.