A View of Venice: Portrait of a Renaissance City

Jacopo de’ Barbari’s View of Venice , a woodcut first printed in the year 1500, presents a bird’s-eye portrait of Venice at its peak as an international 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 and filled with ornate buildings, elaborate gardens, and seafaring vessels. The contributors to A View of Venice: Portrait of a Renaissance City draw on a high-resolution digital scan of the over nine-foot-wide composite print to examine the complexities of this extraordinary woodcut and portrayal of early modern Venetian life. The essays show how the View constitutes an advanced material artifact of artistic, humanist, and scientific culture. They also outline the ways 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. Contributors. 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 O’Connell, Mary Pardo, Giorgio Tagliaferro, Saundra Weddle, Bronwen Wilson, Rangsook Yoon Cover 1 Contents 6 List of Illustrations 12 Abbreviations 19 Acknowledgments 21 Prologue. Story of the Edited Volume / Kristin Love Huffman and Andrea Bellieni 25 Plates 29 Introduction. The View as an Urban Portrait / Kristin Love Huffman 6 I. The View as a Printed Cartographic and Artistic Visualization 63 1. The View of Venice in a Genealogy of City Views and Government Mapping / Karen-edis Barzman 65 2. A City as a World: Jacopo de’ Barbari’s View in 1500 / Piero Falchetta 80 3. A Perspectival Investigation of Jacopo de’ Barbari’s View of Venice / Cosimo Monteleone 90 4. An Artist’s Address Book: Notes on Venice’s Artistic Geography / Giorgio Tagliaferro 102 5. Beyond Venice: At the Margins of the View / Anna Christine Swartwood House 115 6. Vessels of Political Communication / Monique O’Connell 126 7. Navigating the Business of Print in Venice with Jacopo de’ Barbari / Bronwen Wilson 136 8. On the Collection History of the View’s Matrices / Valeria Cafà 147 9. The Graphic Inventions of Jacopo de’ Barbari / Kristin Love Huffman 159 10. Revisiting “lontani et altra fantaxia”: An Eyckian Perspective on Giovanni Bellini and Jacopo de’ Barbari / Mary Pardo 176 11. Jacopo de’ Barbari, a Wandering Court Artist in the North: Changing Perspectives on His Role in Northern Renaissance Art / Rangsook Yoon 190 II. The View as a Reflection of Venice and Venetian Life 201 12. Toward the Perfect City: Urban Development in the Quattrocento / Richard Goy 203 13. The Wellhead as an Amenity of Venetian Urban Space / Patricia Fortini Brown 216 14. Hidden in Plain Sight (and Hearing): Venetian Bells and Their Towers / Jonathan Glixon 229 15. Santa Lucia and Corpus Domini at the Turn of the Sixteenth Century: The View and Urban Patterns / Saundra Weddle 239 16. Monastic and Convent Life as a City Phenomenon / Ludovica Galeazzo 252 17. Gendered Space(s) and the View / Holly Hurlburt 266 18. Wifely Mobility in Renaissance Venice / Stanley Chojnacki 278 19. Two Palaces, a Chapel, and an Art Collection on the Grand Canal: The World of Domenico di Piero in Jacopo de’ Barbari’s View of Venice / Giada Damen 290 20. Luxury Goods in Jacopo de’ Barbari’s Venice / Blake de Maria 300 21. “Both by Sea and Land”: Venetian Trade and Retail in the View / Julia A. DeLancey 313 22. Imagining Social and Political Relations in the View: From Piazza San Marco to Murano / Maartje van Gelder and Claire Judde de Larivière 324 23. Cosmopolitanism in Venice and State Strategies / Martina Massaro 335 Epilogue. Venice Lost, and Found / Tracy E. Cooper 347 Appendix 1. The View and Its Relevance Today: Venice Then and Now / Kristin Love Huffman 355 Appendix 2. Anton Kolb’s Copyright Permission and Export License Request for the View of Venice 376 Appendix 3. Will of Anton Kolb, October 12, 1541 378 Bibliography 381 Contributors 421 Index 431 A 431 B 432 C 433 D 435 E 436 F 436 G 437 H 438 I 438 J 439 K 439 L 439 M 439 N 441 O 441 P 441 Q 443 R 443 S 444 T 446 U 446 V 447 W 448 X 448 Z 448 Image Credits 449