Research Focus 2009-2013
Drawings after antique architecture from the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi in Florence
Since 2009, the Census has focused its research on the drawings after antique architecture of the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi (GDSU). With this, the project fulfills a desideratum dating back to 1981, when the Bibliotheca Hertziana joined the Warburg Institute as co-hosting institution of the Census, and the reception of classical architecture was established as a second core area of the project in addition to sculpture. Since that time, only parts of the large and significant Florence material – e. g. the drawings by Francesco di Giorgio Martini and the so-called Codex Strozzi by Antonio da Sangallo il Vecchio – had been included in the Census database. The task is planned to be completed by the end of the year 2013.
For the data entry in Berlin high-quality digital copies were required, which also serve as illustrations of the database entries. First, all the drawings of the “Fondo Architettura” relevant for the Census had to be identified and synchronized with the folios which had been fed in before. In total, about 1,300 inventory numbers (recto and verso), dating from the 15th and 16th centuries and documenting antique architecture were compiled, 600 of which already had been included in the database. In four extensive photo campaigns 1,300 digital copies were produced in Florence and then analyzed and entered in the database by the Census staff in Berlin. Meanwhile, over 1,000 inventory numbers have been included (as of summer 2013).
The new entries include the drawings of Alessandro Albertini, Antonio da Sangallo (il Vecchio), Antonio da Sangallo (il Giovane), Aristotile da Sangallo, Francesco da Sangallo, Giovanni Battista da Sangallo, Giovanni Francesco da Sangallo, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, Bernardo della Volpaia, Lorenzo Donati, Giovannantonio Dosio, Baldassare Peruzzi, Sallustio Peruzzi, Pietro Roselli, Giorgio Vasari (il Giovane) as well as numerous folios with drawings of unknown authors.
On the occasion of the finalization of the research focus some results of the project work will be presented at a Census study day taking place in November 2013 and discussed with participating experts on Renaissance architectural drawings.
