The drawing shows a longitudinal section through the main staircase of the complex of San Giorgio Maggiore – a Benedictine monastery located on the island of San Giorgio, in Venice. Built after the design of Baldassare Longhena (1598-1682) from 1643, the staircase is composed of a large hall with two, symmetric L-shaped ramps departing from a central flight of steps. This drawing is a longitudinal section through the centre of the hall. In the bottom centre, it features the beginning of the stair with a landing at the centre and two further landings left and right. At each landing, the staircase features niches framed by pilasters of the Ionic order with an entablature on top. The upper level of the hall consists of an order of Corinthian pilasters alternating high arches and niches. The space is terminated by a simplified, Corinthian entablature surmounted by a flattened vault.

The drawing belongs to a set of 66 measured drawings of Italian Renaissance and Ancient Roman architecture which the V&A purchased from Edwin Parsons in 1886. The Parsons set may belong to a larger series of over 700 architectural drawings scattered in English and international collections formerly owned by the British Consul at Venice, Joseph Smith (1682-1770). A proponent of Palladian architecture, Smith began collecting measured drawings of classical and Renaissance architecture from the early 1740s. Today, most of this material exists in a series of bound volumes at the Royal Collection (where the Admiranda Artis Architecturae Varia is kept) and at the British Library (which holds the three-volume Admiranda Urbis Venetae), as well as in loose sheets scattered in collections across Europe and North America including the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Canadian Centre for Architecture.

The author of these drawings is unknown. However, their style and subject matter suggests the involvement of the Venetian architect, painter, engraver and theorist Antonio Visentini (1688-1782). A member of the Venetian Academy since its foundation in 1755, Visentini was affiliated with Smith and executed a vast number of architectural drawings for the British Consul as well as for a broader British collector base. Most of these drawings are scaled in English feet and consist of simplified plans and elevations of exemplary Italian architecture. Often produced as a series, the drawings were purchased by British Gentlemen to be included in their libraries and collections. The present drawing forms part of this material. The drawing is not signed by Visentini, but may have been produced by one of Visentini’s workshop members or pupils or by an unknown draughtsman working in the style of Visentini.