Piazza Giudia

Piazza Giudia is an ancient square in the Jewish Ghetto of Rome that no longer exists under this name in the official toponymy. The area of the original square was located between the current intersection of Piazza delle Cinque Scole, Via del Portico d'Ottavia, and Via Santa Maria del Pianto. In 1555 Pope Paul IV forced all the Jews of Rome and of Latium to move inside a walled enclosure (Ghetto) between Strada di Pescaria and the river. The old Ghetto does not exist any longer: it was demolished in the 1880s because its proximity to the river made it very unhealthy. Fontana di Piazza Giudia by Giacomo della Porta is now ina nearby square (Piazza delle Cinque Scuole). In the square, indicated by the number 2, you can see the pillory post, also known as la corda (the rope). This refers to one of the most notorious and ferocious instruments of public corporal punishment in papal Rome: the strappado (il tratto di corda). Next to it is the beautiful fountain designed by Giacomo Della Porta.

The number 3 indicates the Renaissance-era Palazzo di Lorenzo Manilio (which still exists today), characterized by a long Latin inscription on its facade. The number 4 indicates the outer corner of the church of S. Maria del Pianto.

View taken from the monumental work Delle magnificenze di Roma antica e moderna.

Published in 10 volumes from 1747 to 1761, the work features 238 copper engravings, each engraving with a narrative text that provides historical and documentary information.

Known by most simply as the "master" of Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Giuseppe Vasi reveals in this monumental work the fullness of his graphic creativity.

The 10 books that compose it each have a title page with a different title and date: Libro primo che contiene le porte e mura; Libro secondo, che contiene le piazze principali di Roma con obelischi, colonne, ed altri ornamenti; Libro terzo, che contiene le basiliche e chiese antiche di Roma; Libro quarto che contiene i palazzi e le vie più celebri; Libro quinto che contiene i ponti e gli edifizj sul Libro sesto che contiene la chiese parrocchiali; Libro settimo che contiene i conventi e case dei chierici regolari; Libro ottavo che contiene i monasteri e conservatorj di donne; Libro nono che contiene i collegj, spedali, e luoghi pii; decimo che contiene le ville e giardini più rimarchevoli.

The Magnificences provide a complete and at the same time unconventional panorama of the City: thus, together with the usual, celebrated shots taken from the best tradition of vedutistica, one also finds an unusual Rome, one that, at times, no longer exists. The author had worked on this work, of central importance in Roman publishing in the middle of the eighteenth century, for almost twenty years, producing a monumental guide to the “Urbe” where, alongside the usual and famous shots taken from the best tradition of vedutistica, he also immortalized unusual views that have since disappeared with the change of the city. The text that accompanies the views in the first volume is by Giuseppe Bianchini, in the second by Orazio Orlandi and in the remaining ones by Vasi himself.

Starting from the edition of 1786, the work of Vasi, was updated by his son Mariano, who published it under the title Raccolta delle più belle vedute antiche, e moderne di Roma, showing only the name of his father as author. This new edition presented many plates of the first edition, and some new ones. The publication of Mariano Vasi was also printed several times, always with the addition of new plates. 

Example taken from the first edition of The Magnificences

Etching, printed on contemporary laid paper, in very good condition.