Perspective view of the same candelabrum, from 'Vasi, candelabri, cippi, sarcofagi, tripodi, lucerne, ed ornamenti antichi, vol. II' (Vases, candelabra, grave stones, sarcophagi, tripods, lamps, and ornaments)

This elaborate candelabrum, now in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, represents one of Piranesi's more creative "restorations." Produced during a period when Piranesi was collaborating with the Scottish painter Gavin Hamilton in the restoration and sale of antiquities—many uncovered in the excavations at Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli—it combines a number of diverse ancient fragments to create a new work. More 'Piranesi' than ancient in its effect, this assemblage exemplifies the artist's belief in the freedom of designers to draw from a variety of sources to enrich their invention. A similarly fantastic candelabrum, now in the Louvre, formerly served as an ornament to Piranesi's own tomb. The handsome series of etchings after ancient vases, candelabra, funerary urns, and other recently excavated decorative objects—some less extensively restored—served to advertise wares available in Piranesi's workshop as well as to document rare pieces that were leaving the country, such as the Warwick Vase.

Credit: Rogers Fund, Transferred from the Library, 1941