Gian Lorenzo Bernini - Piazza Navona te Rome

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric "prisons" (Le Carceri d'Invenzione), was born in Veneto, the Republic of Venice in a family of stonemasons and architects. He was apprenticed of his uncle, who was a leading architect in Magistrato delle Acque, the state organization responsible for engineering and restoring historical buildings. From 1740, he worked in Rome as a draughtsman for Marco Foscarini, the Venetian ambassador. He worked with pupils of the French Academy in Rome to produce a series of vedute (views) of the city. From 1743 to 1747 he was back in Venice where he often visited Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. In 1748–1774, back in Rome, he created a series of vedute of the city which established his fame. In 1761 he became a member of the Accademia di San Luca and opened a printing facility of his own. He died in Rome in 1778, and was buried in the church he had helped restore, Santa Maria del Priorato. His tomb was designed by Giuseppi Angelini.

Printmaking in woodcut and engraving came to Northern Italy within a few decades of their invention north of the Alps. Engraving probably came first to Florence in the 1440s, the goldsmith Maso Finiguerra (1426–64) used the technique. Italian engraving caught the very early Renaissance, 1460–1490. Print copying was a widely accepted practice, as well as copying of paintings viewed as images in their own right.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect who is widely regarded as one of the most important artists of the Baroque period. Born in Naples, he began his career as a sculptor in Rome, where he quickly gained fame for his dramatic and emotional works. Bernini's sculptures are characterised by their dynamic and fluid forms, which often appear to be in motion. He was particularly adept at capturing the human form in motion, and many of his works depict figures in dramatic poses, such as his famous statue of David, which shows the biblical hero in the act of hurling a stone at Goliath. In addition to his work as a sculptor, Bernini was also a talented architect and designed many of Rome's most important buildings during his lifetime. These include the famous Colonnade in St Peter's Square, considered one of the greatest achievements of Baroque architecture. Throughout his career, Bernini was a favourite of the papacy and received many commissions from the Catholic Church. His works can be seen in churches and museums throughout Italy and the world, and he remains one of the most important figures in the history of Western art.