architecture

GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIRANESI (1720-1778)

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The Villa d’Este, Tivoli Rome, 1773 Etching This engraving is from a series entitled Views of Rome. In this etching, Piranesi depicted the impressive gardens of the Villa d’Este in Tivoli, originally built for Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este (1509-1572).  The inclusion of tiny figures on the steps emphasises the scale of the grounds. The garden … Read more

OUR HISTORY

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The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is housed in one of Birmingham’s finest Art Deco buildings, purpose built and opened by Queen Mary in 1939. The Barber Institute was designed by Robert Atkinson (1883-1952), one of Britain’s leading architects of the 1920s and ’30s. When it opened The Times described the building as ‘the purest … Read more