Galleria dei disegni e delle stampe

The Gallery comprises over 3,000 items ranging from 15th-century wood engravings to 19th-century lithographs, mostly donated by private collectors such as Abbot Giovanni Battista Del Negro and Count Francesco di Toppo. The arrangement gives pride of place to the maps and landscapes of Udine and Friuli, displayed at the entrance and exit of the Gallery. Of particular interest is the 1661 map Udine Metropoli del Friuli by Ruffoni-Gazoldi-Cosattini, printed in second edition in 1740; it is displayed together with its engraved copper plate, still in very good condition. Very large (2x0,45m), the map describes in great detail houses, palaces, churches, streets and squares of Udine, combining artistic flair with topographic exactness.

The Gallery also houses a collection of 16th to 19th century drawings by Venetian painters working in Friuli, among them Palma il Giovane and Sebastiano Ricci. The 18th century is certainly the best represented period, with very fine works by Giulio Quaglio, Giambattista and Giandomenico Tiepolo, Francesco Fontebasso, Gaspare Diziani and Francesco Chiarottini. The display continues with a series of valuable prints, either extremely rare or engraved by celebrated artists (from Luca di Leyda to Albrecht Dürer, from Annibale Carracci to Antonio Tempesta, from Jacques Callot to Rembrandt).