Fondazione Giorgio Cini launches online atlas of Italian Renaissance woodcuts

The Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice has launched the Atlante delle xilografie italiane del Rinascimento, a free, publicly accessible online archive of Italian Renaissance woodcuts. The result of four years of research, the atlas catalogs woodcuts on loose sheets and matrices dating from the early 15th century to 1550. Curated by Laura Aldovini, David Landau, and Silvia Urbini, the project aims to deepen the study of woodcut printing, the least studied Renaissance print technique. Woodcuts, carved from inked wooden blocks, were often original inventions by artists such as Albrecht Dürer and Tiziano Vecellio, and served devotional, decorative, and educational purposes, including playing cards and tarot. The digital archive functions as a virtual museum, gathering works from national and international institutions as well as public and private collections. It is designed to be continuously updated, inviting scholars and enthusiasts to submit new findings or corrections. The atlas is hosted on the Fondazione's website under the Photographic Atlases section curated by the Institute of Art History.