Architectural Drawings from the Uffizi
Between 2009 and 2013 the Census focused on drawings after ancient architecture in the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi (GDSU). This undertaking fulfilled a desideratum that was already present in 1981, when the Bibliotheca Hertziana became a partner institution of the Census, and the reception of ancient architecture joined sculpture to become a second core area of the project. Since 1981, only parts of the large and important collections in Florence–for example the drawings by Francesco di Giorgio Martini–had been added to the Census database.
A prerequisite for work on the database in Berlin was the creation of high-quality digital photographs. First, all drawings of the ‘Fondo Architectura’ had to be identified and compared with the sheets that were already in the Census. A total of approximately 1,300 15th- and 16th-century drawings representing ancient architecture were identified, of which almost 600 were already in the database. In four extensive photo campaigns, 1,300 digital photographs were produced in Florence, which were then entered into the database.
The new drawings included sheets by 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 anonymous authors.
Some of the results of the project were presented in November, 2013 as part of a study day, when they were discussed with invited experts in the field of Renaissance architectural drawings.
Giovannantonio Dosio, Amphitheatrum Castrense, Uffizi 2533A r