The conservation of the Six Woodblocks for Jacopo de’ Barbari’s View of Venice at the Museo Correr has been sponsored by Carter & Susan Emerson.

Long believed to be the work of Albrecht Dürer—or, at times, even of Andrea Mantegna—the design of the View of Venice is now almost unanimously attributed to Jacopo de’ Barbari, a Venetian artist who made his career in Germany. The commission for this monumental woodcut was likewise German in origin: it came from the merchant and publisher Anton Kolb, who resided in Venice and was active at the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, the headquarters of the German trading community near the Rialto Bridge.

Archival documents record that in 1500 the Venetian Republic granted Kolb the exclusive right to publish the View of Venice, along with an exemption from export duties, for a period of four years. Sold at the substantial price of three ducats per impression, the print was clearly intended for an elite clientele. Its extraordinary scale suggests that it was conceived as an object for display, designed to be mounted on a wall as a sweeping visual panorama of the city. At the same time, its iconography reveals a distinctly celebratory and political purpose. The inclusion of Mercury, god of commerce, and Neptune, ruler of the seas, proclaims Venice’s dual identity as a mercantile and maritime power. This message is reinforced by the dense array of galleys crowded into the Bacino di San Marco and by the prominent depiction of the Arsenal, the vast shipbuilding complex that was the engine of Venetian naval supremacy. Together, these elements transform the print into more than a topographical record: it becomes a monumental visual statement of Venice’s wealth, technological prowess, and dominion over the sea at the dawn of the 16th century.

The image was printed from six pearwood blocks, arranged in a checkerboard configuration: two horizontal tiers composed of three vertical pairs. De’ Barbari most likely limited his role to designing the view, whose precise method of creation remains the subject of debate. According to some scholars, he synthesized numerous perspectival drawings taken from elevated vantage points and then systematically adjusted them to eliminate visual distortions, producing a coherent and unified image that reflects his own artistic vision. Others have argued that the print resulted from a more technical cartographic enterprise, based on planimetric surveys carried out with the collaboration of engineers and surveyors.

The physical carving of the six blocks was entrusted to highly skilled woodcarvers, who for three years translated de’ Barbari’s design into an extraordinarily detailed relief surface. Their craftsmanship made it possible to reproduce with remarkable precision the intricate fabric of Venice—its canals, bridges, churches, palaces, and dense urban texture. As a result, de’ Barbari’s View of Venice remains today one of the most invaluable visual documents for understanding the appearance and urban structure of the city at the beginning of the 16th century. As works of art in their own right, the survival of all six original woodblocks is of exceptional importance, placing them among the most valuable and rare artifacts in Venice’s artistic heritage.

The six woodblocks were last conserved in 1999 by Maximilian Leuthenmayer and Benito Ghezzo. They are currently displayed in a horizontal vitrine covered by two thick, adjoining glass panels that leave a narrow gap at the center. Over time, dust and grime have accumulated both between the glass panels and directly on the wood, settling into the carved recesses of the relief.

The new conservation campaign will begin with a preventive disinfestation treatment in a controlled atmosphere to address any potential presence of wood-boring insects. Once stabilized, the surfaces will be gently cleaned using a micro-vacuum and soft brushes to remove accumulated dirt without damaging the carved details. The adhesives applied during the 1999 conservation will then be reviewed to assess their current stability, and the earlier consolidation of the wood will be reevaluated; additional consolidation will be carried out where necessary.

Finally, the woodblocks will be reinstalled in a new display case with a single, sealed glass panel, offering better protection against environmental contamination and future insect infestation.

Jacopo de’ Barbari (1560/70 – ca. 1516) [designer]
Unidentified woodcarvers (15th century) [printmaker]
Six Woodblocks for the View of Venice
1497 – 1500, carved pearwood
(Overall dimensions) 140 × 287 cm

Ferrari, Simone. Jacopo de’ Barbari. Un protagonista del Rinascimento tra Venezia e Dürer. Milan: Bruno Mondadori, 2006, pp. 150-153

Howard, Deborah. Venice as a Dolphin: Further Investigations into Jacopo de’ Barbari’s View. “Artibus et Historiae,” 35, 18, 1997, pp. 101-111

Love Huffman, Kristin (ed.). A View of Venice. Portrait of a Renaissance City. Durham: Duke University Press, 2024

Romanelli, Giandomenico (ed.). A volo d’uccello. Jacopo de’ Barbari e le rappresentazioni di città nell’Europa del Rinascimento. Venice: Arsenale Editore, 1999