Drawing for Engraving in Raccolta di Vari Schizzi, Venice, 1747, After Angelo Rosis. 1742 - 1752

This is a drawing made by Antonio Maria Visentini in Venice around 1747, intended to be turned into an engraving. You can see the sepia ink on paper; it is a study of architectural friezes, teeming with ornament – shells, putti, garlands. The drawing gives us insight into the labor-intensive process of creating ornament during the 18th century. These highly skilled draftsmen worked to translate architectural concepts into a visual language that could be disseminated through print. The purpose was to distribute design ideas to a wider audience of craftsmen and patrons. Visentini’s drawing is not just an aesthetic object, but a step in a larger process of production, a node in a network of labor and skill. Consider the tremendous hand-work involved in the overall procedure, from quarrying the stone, to carving the ornament, to documenting it in drawings like this one, to engraving and printing the final image. The drawing reminds us that the beautiful buildings of Venice depended on the coordination of many hands.