{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O617614"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O617614/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2014HC1532/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2014HC1532/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2014HC1532","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O617614/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O617614","accessionNumber":"D.1472-1886","objectType":"drawing","titles":[{"title":"Elevation of the triumphal arch in Palazzo Mantova-Benavides, Padua","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"The drawing shows an elevation of the triumphal arch in the courtyard of Palazzo Benavides in Padua, completed in 1544 after the design of Bartolomeo Ammannati (1511-1592). Commissioned in the early 1540s by the Paduan jurist Marco Mantova Benavides (1489-1582), the arch was part of larger series works Ammannati realised in Benavides’ newly refurbished palace amongst which a giant statue of Hercules located proximity to the arch (completed 1543). The drawing depicts the elevation of the arch with a plan of the façade relief beneath. The façade consists of an order of four Doric half columns defining a larger, central passageway flanked by wall segments with aediculae on either side. Above, a flat Doric entablature is surmounted by an attic which breaks out over the half columns in the manner of Ancient Roman triumphal arches.\n\nThe drawing belongs to a set of 66 measured drawings of Italian Renaissance and Ancient Roman architecture which the V&amp;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 <i>Admiranda Artis Architecturae Varia</i> is kept) and at the British Library (which holds the three-volume <i>Admiranda Urbis Venetae</i>), 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. \n\r\nThe 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.\r\n","physicalDescription":"Elevation of the triumphal arch in the courtyard of Palazzo Mantova-Benavides in Padua, in pencil, pen and ink with grey and brown wash on paper. The drawing, in portrait format, depicts the façade of the arch with a plan of the façade relief beneath. A linear scale in English feet is inscribed in pen in the bottom centre of the sheet. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown, circle of Antonio Visentini (1688-1782)","id":"AUTH353400"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"pencil","id":"x30347"},{"text":"pen and ink","id":"x30618"},{"text":"wash","id":"AAT11051"},{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"}],"techniques":[{"text":"architectural drawing","id":"AAT54197"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Pencil, pen and ink with grey and brown wash on paper","categories":[{"text":"Drawings","id":"THES48966"},{"text":"Architecture","id":"THES48993"},{"text":"Designs","id":"THES48968"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2014HC1532"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLE","id":"THES49657"},"free":"","case":"A","shelf":"106","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"drawing","id":"AAT33973"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Italy","id":"x28927"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"mid 18th century","earliest":"1725-01-01","latest":"1775-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"385","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"Measurements taken at the opening of the mount"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"352","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"Measurements taken at the opening of the mount"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Linear scale in English feet inscribed in pen in the bottom centre of the sheet. ","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"The object was purchased from Edwin Parsons in 1886 as part of a collection of 66 drawings of Italian Renaissance and Ancient Roman architecture. Edwin Parsons was a dealer in books, prints and drawings. He was the founder of Edwin Parsons &amp; Sons (1850-1950s) at 45 Brompton Road SW7. Parsons had a notable client base reportedly including the writer William Makepeace Thackeray, Sir John Pierpoint Morgan (of J.P. Morgan), and Napoleon III.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Elevation of the triumphal arch in the courtyard of Palazzo Mantova-Benavides, Padua, Italy, mid 18th century (made)","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"McAndrew, John. <u>Catalogue of the Drawings Collection of the Royal Institute of British Architects: Antonio Visentini</u>. Farnsborough: Gregg, 1974. 130p., ill. ISBN 0576159999."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Modesti, Paola. I disegni architettonici di Antonio Visentini (1688-1782): un corpus autografo inedito e una produzione con un’etichetta da riconsiderare. <u>In</u>: Alessandro Bordini and Giovanna Curcio, eds. <u>Porre un limite all’infinito errore.’ Studi di storia dell’architettura dedicati a Christof Thoenes</u>. Rome: Campisano, 2014. pp. 191-208, ill. ISBN 8888168524."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Vivian, Francis. <u>The Consul Smith Collection: masterpieces of Italian drawing from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle : Raphael to Canaletto</u>. Munich: Hirmer, 1989. 200 p., ill. ISBN 3777452505."}],"production":"The drawing is comparable to a loose sheet at the Royal Collection (RCIN 919301) with which it shares the subject matter, the layout, the quality of draughtsmanship and the design of the linear scale. Two further elevations of Ammannati’s triumphal arch executed in the manner of Visentini exist as loose sheets at the Royal Institute of British Architects (SB32[39]1; SB32[39]2). The drawing depicts the elevation of the arch in simplified form omitting the statues from the aediculae, the bas-reliefs from the attic and the figures carved into the spandrels of the central archway. A more accurate depiction of Ammannati’s triumphal arch authored by Antonio Visentini is included in an album of architectural drawings at the V&amp;A (E.9:38-2001). ","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"triumphal arch","id":"AAT7003"},{"text":"buildings","id":"AAT4792"},{"text":"elevations","id":"AAT34065"},{"text":"","id":""}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["D.1472-1886"],"accessionNumberNum":"1472","accessionNumberPrefix":"D","accessionYear":1886,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-23","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-30","availableToBook":false}}