{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O617621"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O617621/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2014HC1527/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2014HC1527/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2014HC1527","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O617621/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O617621","accessionNumber":"D.1465-1886","objectType":"drawing","titles":[{"title":"Elevation and plan of the Arco Vallaresso, Padua","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"The drawing shows the elevation and plan of the Arco Vallaresso in Padua, built in 1632, probably after the design of Giambattista della Scala. Commissioned for votive purposes after the deliverance of Padua from the 1631 plague, the arch was dedicated to the Venetian magistrate and Captain of Padua Alvise Vallaresso whose merits in countering the epidemic included the quarantining of the sick, the foundation of cemeteries beyond the city walls, and the improvement of a pre-existing lazzaretto. The drawing depicts the elevation of the arch facing the Cathedral square. In the central segment of the arch, four Ionic half columns on pedestals define a larger, central passageway flanked by wall segments with niches on either side. Left and right, an order of Ionic pilasters is set onto a rusticated wall surface. The elevation is terminated by a pulvinated entablature of the Ionic order. In the central segment, the entablature is surmounted by an attic which breaks out over the half columns of principal order. A plan of the arch is depicted in the bottom centre of the sheet.\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 and plan of the Arco Vallaresso in Padua, in pencil, pen and ink with grey wash on paper. The drawing, in portrait format, depicts the façade of the arch seen from the Cathedral Square with a plan below. 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 wash on paper","categories":[{"text":"Drawings","id":"THES48966"},{"text":"Architecture","id":"THES48993"},{"text":"Designs","id":"THES48968"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2014HC1527"],"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":"482","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"Measurements taken at the opening of the mount"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"357","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 and plan of Arch of Vallaresso, 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 an inaccurate depiction of the realised structure. In place of the Ionic order, the Arco Vallaresso is composed of half columns and pilasters on pedestals of the Doric order, with a Doric entablature above. A more accurate depiction of the arch can be found in a bound volume of architectural drawings at the V&amp;A (E.9:39-2001)","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":"floor plans","id":"AAT34158"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["D.1465-1886"],"accessionNumberNum":"1465","accessionNumberPrefix":"D","accessionYear":1886,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-23","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-30","availableToBook":false}}