Portrait of Raffaele Lanzio da Vitine 

This is Giovanni Battista Piranesi's print of Raffaele Lanzio da Vitine's marble bust, a study in the enduring power of idealized portraiture. The bust, with its serene expression and classical drapery, evokes the ancient Roman tradition of honoring civic virtue and intellectual achievement. Note Lanzio's gaze, directed slightly upwards, a convention employed since antiquity to suggest nobility of character. This motif, which can be traced back to Hellenistic portrayals of rulers, reappears throughout the Renaissance and Baroque periods, each time imbued with the cultural values of the era. Consider, too, the restrained yet commanding presence of the bust itself. The bust format, a fragment, stands as a potent symbol of memory and legacy. It is a memento mori meant to immortalize. In this print, Piranesi captures not only the likeness of Raffaele Lanzio but also the enduring human desire to transcend mortality through art. The image serves as a reminder of the cyclical nature of history, where ancient forms and ideas are constantly reinterpreted and adapted to new contexts.