Piranesi in the Valley of Uncanny

Piranesi's colossal candelabra were made in the 1770s from fragments excavated near Hadrian's Villa near Tivoli. Some of them were sold for staggering sums to British collectors, but they have known abrupt reversals in appreciation, and even now are among the least studied of his works. This talk will address a prominent, but equally under-researched feature of them: their lifelike, if not animated appearance, and will consider this both from the perspective of ancient lamp-lore and modern psychology.