
The Palladian revival in Venice
In the eighteenth century scholars and architects across Europe, especially in Britain, consciously sought to revive the architectural principles of the sixteenth-century Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508-80). His work celebrated the simplicity and classical proportions of ancient Roman architecture, and many of his most important buildings are found in Venice.
Smith was a passionate advocate for the revival of interest in Palladio’s work. His Pasquali press published and distributed important Palladian texts, including a new edition of Palladio’s architectural treatise, the Four Books of Architecture. The Pasquali bookshop on Campo San Bartolomeo and Smith's palazzo on the Grand Canal became meeting places for the Venetian literati, where the latest Enlightenment ideas could be discussed, especially in the fields of literature, science, mathematics and architecture.
Smith also commissioned Canaletto, Francesco Zuccarelli and Antonio Visentini to make a series of overdoor paintings celebrating Palladio’s architecture in Venice and important Neo-Palladian examples in Britain such as Burlington House, London.
Sebastiano Ricci (Belluno 1659-Venice 1734)
A design for a monument to Newton
Canaletto (Venice 1697-Venice 1768)
Capriccio View with Palladio's Design for the Rialto Bridge
Andrea Palladio (1508-80)
I qvattro libri dell'architettvra
Antonio Visentini (Venice 1688- Venice 1782)
Plan and elevation of the Redentore
Antonio Visentini (Venice 1688- Venice 1782) AND Francesco Zuccarelli (1702–1788)