Ancient Sculptures in the Royal Museum. The eighteenth-century collection in Stockholm.

The project under my direction, a long-lasting effort currently in for completion, aims to return this heritage to the art historical scene through detailed analysis and contextualizing study. Over the years, many Swedish and international partners from the field of Classical archaeology – students as well as highly skilled experts, have contributed to the work, which resumed in 2024. It means to conclude with two volumes covering a catalogue raisonné and a substantial photographic documentation, including the Piranesian marbles but also the spolia (c 50 marble pieces) of the once very large 17th-century collection of Queen Kristina of Sweden that survived the Stockholm Palace conflagration of 1697.

During his stay in Rome 183-1784, the Swedish king Gustav III visited the combined workshop and gallery of Giovanni Battista Piranesi in Via Felice (Sistina), at the top of the Spanish Stairs. The purchase of the entire content of collectibles was concluded after the King’s return to Sweden. With its approximately 150 marble pieces, the Piranesi collection came to, for better or for worse, leave its mark on Gustav III's ownership of antiquities. No surprise, it reflects the creator's, Piranesi's, strongly personal view of antiquity. The collection's showpieces can advantageously be read as material entries in his polemic against the neoclassical ideals of the time. That Piranesi's aesthetic was defeated in that battle explains why the collection's Swedish history has been characterized by questioning and oblivion. Through in-depth study of the marbles, we can demonstrate how Piranesi's recreation of ancient Rome's magnificenza was built on equal parts fantasy and antiquarian, or proto-archaeological knowledge but also reflects a degree of personal distanciation. In demonstrating of how these qualities worked together offers a potent testimony to the spirit of his heritage.