Schets van een kerkinterieur met een bisschop 1490 - 1556

Girolamo da Santacroce sketched this church interior with a bishop using pen and brown ink. It is preparatory work, a record of observations and ideas which may or may not be realised in a painting. The artist was working in Venice. This city's artistic production was closely tied to its powerful religious institutions. We can see the image creates meaning through visual codes, cultural references, and historical associations. For example, the architectural features would have evoked familiar ideas about sacred space, and the bishop is represented according to a strict social hierarchy. To understand this drawing better, we might look at how art academies and religious institutions shaped artistic training and patronage in Venice at this time. Through such research, we can begin to understand how the social conditions of Venice shaped the production of this artwork.