Venetia, città nobilissima, et singolare : descritta in XIIII. libri
A 1663 Venetian guidebook titled Venetia, città nobilissima, et singolare, published in Venice by Steffano Curti and based on Francesco Sansovino's 16th-century description of the city, aimed at readers wanting to know the city's history and monuments. The four pictures are repeated versions of one horizontal decorative strip: a central cartouche holding a rampant lion or griffin, flanked by symmetrical scrolling acanthus foliage, figures and masks, shown in a dark ink impression on pale paper. A designer could take the symmetrical scroll rhythm and the framed central emblem as a model for border bands, panel friezes or heraldic ornament.
