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DISPLAY AND CONSERVATION

To avoid deterioration, the drawing must be conserved in a light- and temperature-controlled environment. For this reason, drawings and prints are not always on permanent display.

VENICE: BUILDINGS IN FRONT OF SANTA MARIA DELLA SALUTE

In the eighteenth century, this small sheet belonged to Maria Corniani, the daughter of Bonomo Algarotti and niece of the more famous Francesco Algarotti – an intellectual, collector, and refined conoisseur of fine art. In the 1870s, the drawing, along with 33 other specimens by the same author, were part of the Battistella collection in Triest, and from here it came to the Alfredo Viggiano collection in 1935. In 1964, it was purchased by the Gallerie dell’Accademia along with seven other sheets for the Cabinet of Prints and Drawings.

On the front part of the work there are five buildings seen from face-on, giving on to the Grand Canal and facing the Salute. These buildings are the Palazzo Tiepolo, Palazzo Emo-Treves Bonfili, and several other buildings that are no longer extant.

The extraordinarily detailed note allows us to identify the spot and is reminiscent of another sketch of the same area “that can be seen from the doodle of said site”, while the handwritten “2” in the top right-hand corner would lead us to assume that it is part of a series. A note on the left details what is drawn on the back of the sheet, which is a continuation of the series of buildings on the front. The drawing introduces the theme of the method adopted by the artist in realising his vedute, or scenes. The “doodle” referred to was perhaps a general sketch to which the author connected detailed studies such as this one, accompanied by precise, descriptive notes.

 

NOTICE

Due to ongoing restoration work, the Cabinet of Prints and Drawings is temporarily closed for consultation until further notice.

Due to ongoing restoration work, the Cabinet of Prints and Drawings is temporarily closed for consultation until further notice.