A View of Venice: Portrait of a Renaissance City

Jacopo de Barbaris' View of Venice, a woodcut printed in 1500, portrays Venice as a vibrant international hub of trade, art, and culture. The contributors to A View of Venice: Portrait of a Renaissance City examine the complexities of the woodcut and its portrayal of early modern Venetian life, highlighting its advanced material artifact of artistic, humanist, and scientific culture.

Format: Hardback
Length: 456 pages
Publication date: 16 January 2024
Publisher: Duke University Press

Jacopo de Barbaris' View of Venice, a woodcut first printed in 1500, presents a breathtaking bird's-eye portrait of Venice at the height of its international prominence as a hub of trade, art, and culture. An artistic and cartographic masterpiece of the Renaissance, the View depicts Venice as a vibrant, waterborne city interconnected by canals and bridges, filled with ornate buildings, elaborate gardens, and seafaring vessels.

To explore the intricacies of this extraordinary woodcut and portrayal of early modern Venetian life, the contributors to A View of Venice: Portrait of a Renaissance City have drawn on a high-resolution digital scan of the over nine-foot-wide composite print. The essays in the book showcase how the View constitutes an advanced material artifact of artistic, humanist, and scientific culture. They also outline the ways in which the print reveals information about the city's economic and military power, religious and social infrastructures, and cosmopolitan residents.

Featuring methodological advancements in the digital humanities, A View of Venice highlights the reality and myths of a topographically unique, mystical city and its place in the world.

The contributors to this book are a diverse group of experts in the field, including Karen-edis Barzman, Andrea Bellieni, Patricia Fortini Brown, Valeria Cafà, Stanley Chojnacki, Tracy E. Cooper, Giada Damen, Julia A. DeLancey, Piero Falchetta, Ludovica Galeazzo, Maartje van Gelder, Jonathan Glixon, Richard Goy, Anna Christine Swartwood House, Kristin Love Huffman, Holly Hurlburt, Claire Judde de Larivière, Blake de Maria, Martina Massaro, Cosimo Monteleone, Monique OConnell, Mary Pardo, Giorgio Tagliaferro, Saundra Weddle, Bronwen Wilson, and Rangsook Yoon.

Their essays provide a comprehensive and insightful exploration of the View of Venice, shedding light on its historical significance, artistic merits, and cultural impact. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the Renaissance, art, history, and the city of Venice itself.

Weight: 572g
Dimension: 254 x 178 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781478016533