The rarest book

One of the rarities preserved by the Fondazione Querini Stampalia is the Pianta prospettica, a bird's eye view of Venice by Jacopo de' Barbari, one of the few surviving examples of the first print run.

A woodcut printed from six plates in six sheets and dated MD (1500).

The 1500s is a pivotal year for Venetian civilization, in the midst of its transition from a mercantile to a land-based economy.

The vision of the city, its industriousness and its activities, offered to the viewer by the outsider (foreigner) Anton Kolb, commissioner of the woodcut, is to extol the values of a community in which he recognized himself.

The choice of placing St. Mark's Square at the centre, the inclusion of outsized ships and the large Arsenal under construction communicate the values perceived and shared by the foreign communities residing in the city.

This bird's-eye view highlights, through inscriptions, place names, and abbreviated notes, a multifaceted urban reality. It also documents numerous architectural elements that are now lost or completely changed, such as the once wooden Rialto Bridge.

The description, though sketchy, is not limited to the city and lagoon landscape, but includes the mainland and the beginning of the surrounding foothills, particularly to the north and Serravalle, a crossing point for merchants from northern Europe.

The basin of San Marco is overlooked by an imposing Neptune, whose trident dominates the tides, riding a  dolphin. All around the perimeter of the woodcut, eight heads surrounded by clouds and intent on blowing personify the winds.

Among the included symbols, De' Barbari uses the Natal Chart of March 25, 421, the day of Venice's founding, as a reference but excludes the Lion of St. Mark, the emblem of the Republic, a choice motivated by the German origins of the patron, Anton Kolb.