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Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level D , Case SB22, Shelf SH3, Box LL/30

Architectural Drawing

18th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The church of San Geminiano was situated in front of the cathedral San Marco in Venice and built after a design by Giacomo Sansovino. However, in 1807, Napoleon decided to demolish it. The drawing shows the floor-plan of the church indicating the domed section of the ceiling and the placement of the columns. There are five altars: a main one and four minor ones situated at the four angles of the plan.

Antonio Visentini (Venice, 21 Nov 1688 – Venice, 26 June 1782) was an Italian painter, engraver, architect and theorist. He was first known as a painter and trained with the Venetian history painter Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini (1675-1741). He became known as an engraver by the end of the 1720s when he was commissioned by Joseph Smith to produce engravings of Canaletto’s views of Venice. Visentini started working as an architect in 1731, and his first theoretical work, Libro di Architettura, which included Rococo-influenced drawings by Pier Antonio Morelli after Visentini’s ideas, was published in 1733.

His ideas on contemporary architecture derived from Antiquity and the work of Andrea Palladio (1508-80). Later however, Visentini developed neo-Palladian and anti-Baroque ideas. Visentini and his pupils executed numerous drawings of ancient and contemporary buildings intended to disseminate exemplary architecture. He participated to the foundation of the Venetian Academy in 1755, where he became a teacher of architectural perspective in 1772.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Pen and ink and watercolour on paper
Brief description
Drawing of the Chiesa di S Geminiano, Venice, 18th century, in an album commissioned by the Earl of Bute
Physical description
Drawing of the Chiesa di S Geminiano, in pen and ink and watercolour, on paper. It depicts the floor-plan of the building indicating the position of the columns and the domed area. The drawing is in a portrait format and is bound within the album.
Dimensions
  • Length: 677mm
  • Length: 677mm
  • Width: 512mm
Inscribed on the drawing "scala di piedi veneziani" "in Venetian feet"
Marks and inscriptions
Pianta della chiesa di S. Giminiano Architettura di Giacomo Sansovino Fiorentino (Handwriting)
Translation
Plan of the Church of St Geminiano Architecture by Giacomo Sansovino
Credit line
Accepted by H M Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Victoria & Albert Museum, 2000
Production
This drawing has recently been atrributed to Antonio Visentini by Paola Modesti
Summary
The church of San Geminiano was situated in front of the cathedral San Marco in Venice and built after a design by Giacomo Sansovino. However, in 1807, Napoleon decided to demolish it. The drawing shows the floor-plan of the church indicating the domed section of the ceiling and the placement of the columns. There are five altars: a main one and four minor ones situated at the four angles of the plan.

Antonio Visentini (Venice, 21 Nov 1688 – Venice, 26 June 1782) was an Italian painter, engraver, architect and theorist. He was first known as a painter and trained with the Venetian history painter Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini (1675-1741). He became known as an engraver by the end of the 1720s when he was commissioned by Joseph Smith to produce engravings of Canaletto’s views of Venice. Visentini started working as an architect in 1731, and his first theoretical work, Libro di Architettura, which included Rococo-influenced drawings by Pier Antonio Morelli after Visentini’s ideas, was published in 1733.

His ideas on contemporary architecture derived from Antiquity and the work of Andrea Palladio (1508-80). Later however, Visentini developed neo-Palladian and anti-Baroque ideas. Visentini and his pupils executed numerous drawings of ancient and contemporary buildings intended to disseminate exemplary architecture. He participated to the foundation of the Venetian Academy in 1755, where he became a teacher of architectural perspective in 1772.
Bibliographic reference
Martignago, Katia. 'Disegni di architettura dal Grand Tour. La collezione di John Stuart, III conte di Bute', PhD thesis, Università IUAV di Venezia, 2021
Collection
Accession number
E.8:70-2001

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Record createdJune 21, 2001
Record URL
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