DCist was excited to read in today’s Post that the imaginative fantasy architectural sketchwork of Giovanni Battista Piranesi is on display at the National Academy of Sciences. The 18th century Italian engraver was born a Venetian and studied stage design and had a love for ancient Roman ruins. These all intersect in his fantasy sketchwork, that involve grand staircases, great vaults, ropes, chains and instruments of torture.

Piranesi’s work is coupled with the modern-day string art re-creations by Vik Muniz, which the Post says “offers a timely reinterpretation of Piranesi’s architectural allegories of power.”

Muniz is a Brazilian, and his art is a curiosity as well. In his work, he has drawn with “dust, chocolate, sugar, fake blood and skywriting smoke.”

The exhibit is open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at the National Academy of Sciences at 21st Street NW and Constitution Avenue.