Measured elevation of the side of the portico of the Basilica of Vicenza by leading architect and designer Sir William Chambers (1723-1796). The left-hand part of the sheet has suffered water damage and been trimmed off. One fragment (7074.6.) shows the lower part of the Basilica, the colonnade and the frieze. Above this should be the balustrade; unfortunately, the whole balustrade has been cut out and is missing. This excepted, the upper part of the building is shown on 7074.5. and the inscription is on 7074.73. Andrea Palladio submitted his first design for the loggia surrounding the Basilica in 1546 and worked on it from 1549 to his death in 1580.

Chambers was born in Sweden and died in London. He travelled widely, visiting China, and studied architecture at the Ecole des Arts, Paris, from 1749 and in Italy from 1750 to 1755. Many of his drawings from this period are contained in his important 'Franco-Italian' album, held in the V&A. Chambers moved to London in 1755 and published his influential Treatise on Civil Architecture in 1759. Chambers demonstrated the breadth of his style in buildings such as Gower (later Carrington) House and Melbourne House, London, in such country houses as Duddingston, Scotland, and in the garden architecture he designed for Wilton House, Wiltshire, and at Kew Gardens. He became head of government building in 1782, and in this capacity built Somerset House, London.