Manfrin's gallery in Venice was one of the most famous private collections assembled in the Venetian Republic at the end of the 18th century, becoming a “must see” for visitors and artists during the following century. Recent literature has mainly addressed the painting collection, shedding light on its history and dispersal, while less attention has been paid to the library and the print cabinet, both formed and increased from the last years of Settecento onwards. New documentary sources allow for a more detailed exploration of the appreciation of ancient and modern prints and the contents of the library, whose importance for the presence of art history publications, illustrated books and volumes of prints was pointed out in the guides of contemporary writers and critics, such as Giannantonio Moschini and Francesco Zanotto. This essay fills a lacuna in the studies on Venetian collecting during the period between the fall of the Republic and the establishment of the Austrian government and provides a preliminary survey of what was, until now, a missing chapter in the reconstruction of the cultural tradition that Girolamo Manfrin and his son Pietro attempted to acquire in the Venetian society of the time.
