Redmond Barry Fellow 2010

Colin Holden
Rome in Melbourne: the Piranesi collections in the Baillieu and State Libraries

Colin Holden's interest in the work of the remarkable 18th-century architect and printmaker Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-78) was reinforced when he visited Rome for the first time in 1989 and saw in person various Roman ruins which confirmed how remarkably Piranesi had captured - and sometimes exaggerated - their grandeur.

His project will undertake a major revaluation of Piranesi's early posthumous printings, unduly neglected until now. The many bound volumes of Piranesi's prints constitute what Dr Holden considers "one of the most important single collections of eighteenth-century work in the University and State Libraries".

Dr Holden first fell in love with prints when he was an undergraduate at the University of Melbourne in 1970 studying for an honours degree in Archaeology and Middle Eastern languages. In those days Armenian, Ethiopic and other exotic texts were on display on the first floor of the Baillieu Library.

Winning the 2010 Redmond Barry Fellowship, a $20,000 grant awarded to assist with travel, living and research expenses, will enable Dr Holden to return to the Baillieu, its archives and those of the State Library, to pursue his passion for the work of Giovanni Battista Piranesi.

Read more about Colin Holden's project.