Venetian Art in the Drawings of Crowe and Cavalcaselle Preserved at the National Art Library in London

Abstract

The collaboration between Joseph Archer Crowe and Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle led to the publication of numerous printed works, to achieve which the two scholars developed a method of study and investigation of absolutely innovative works of art. Their private archives, preserved at the National Art Library of London and the Biblioteca Marciana of Venice, represent the most complete and precious collection of reproductions of works of Italian art from the Middle Ages to the seventeenth century. In the funds, several drawings of works of art of the Veneto – reflecting also a personal interest as well as scientific rigour – and the artistic history of the region from the Middle Ages to the seventeenth century can be traced, with an interesting deepening on the figure of Titian.