Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Carceri d'Invenzione, 1749, etching and sulphur tint. This etching is a

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Carceri d'Invenzione, 1749, etching and sulphur tint.
This etching is a part of a series of invented prisons, which include torture instruments, wandering lost prisoners and a surreal illusionistic depictions of architectural space. In such dramatic imaginative scenes as this it is not difficult to forget that Piranesi started his training as a theatrical stage designer.