[MR] History Blog: Oldest Drawing of Venice

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Today the History Blog reports on the discovery of what is probably the
oldest drawing of Venice. The image probably dates from 1345-1350 and was
inked by the Franciscan friar Niccolo da Poggibonsi who pilgrimaged to the
Holy Land via Venice during those years. While the work is cartoonish, a
modern researcher has been able to verify the drawing by comparison with
surviving period maps and later drawings. In his travel diary, *Libro
d'Oltramare*, Niccolo devotes considerable ink to describing the wonders of
Venice, including various holy relics (in which he had something of a
professional interest), and also the city's buildings and canals.

The whole story is at http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/57614 .

Just for fun I called up St. Mark's Square on Wikipedia, which is surely
the building with large flat area beyond the two ships in Niccolo's
drawing. Though much as changed, the church with the muntiple archest is
very likely St. Mark's. How could he not have drawn Venice's principal
feature?: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_San_Marco . O.K., so he
wasn't much of a draftsman. He still got his point across.

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆