Santa Maria Della Salute, Venezia, Italy

 

Rudolph James Nedved

 

1932  

etching 

9 15/16 x 7" platemark 

pencil, lower right 

11 of 70  

pencil titled and initialed, dated, editioned, annotated "imp.", and dedicated: 'To "Andy" Juvinall and His Courage" 

 

sturdy ivory wove 

published 

artist 

21446 

SOLD

This is a study of the church of Santa Maria della Salute (Saint Mary of Health), a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica located on the narrow spit of the Punta della Dogana, along the Grand Canal. The Venetian Senate began construction of the church in 1630 in response to the black plague, which had decimated a third of Venice's population. In hopes of stemming the tide of misery the Senate decreed the church be built in honor of the Virgin Mary, who was seen as a protector of the Republic.

Nedved and his wife, artist Elizabeth Kimball, were members of the Chicago Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and worked at Nedved and Kimball, Architects (Chicago). Rudolph was president of both their Architectural Sketch Club and Exhibition League. (Together they exhibited at the 1928 Chicago Architectural Exhibition League's annual exhibition, ref. #307, page 13: "R.C. Bennett Residence, Glencoe".) In 1923 he won a traveling scholarship from the institute, and he no doubt traveled to study European architecture, perhaps creating the sketches for this future piece.