Library Item

Column in the piazzetta S. Mark - Corner of the library - The mint. [Colonna della piazzetta di S. Marco - Angolo della libreria]

1893

Ferdinando Ongania [1842 - 1911] was an Italian antiquarian bookseller, with a shop in St. Mark's Square in Venice. From 1861 until his death in 1911 he devoted himself almost entirely to the printing of illustrated art books. His love of Venice inspired him to record the architecture of his beloved city.

Description for this print from the original index page from the publication:
"The granite column on which the statue of S. Theodore is placed, together with the other bearing, the symbolic lion is said to have been brought, during the crusades, from Caesarace where both formed part of the temple erected by Herod in honour of Julius Caesar.
The old Library, began by Sansovino early in the sixteenth century and finished by Scamozzi in 1582 was rightly called the finest building erected in Venice during that epoch.
The Mint, by the same Architect, of severe and majestic aspect, is described by Sansovino's son as a "Notable edifice... all interwoven within and without of cut stone, bricks and iron, without so much as a foot of wood, so that for strength and for being fire proof there is no other that can compare with it".