Giannantonio Selva

Selva is remembered for a theatre that has burned down twice and been rebuilt each time to his plan. Born in Venice in 1751, he trained in the neoclassical manner and travelled widely before returning to a Republic in its final years.

He won the competition for La Fenice in 1789, and the opera house opened in 1792 with a restrained classical front and an intensely decorated auditorium — a deliberate contrast, the calm exterior giving no hint of the interior. The name, meaning "the phoenix", proved unfortunately apt: the theatre burned in 1836 and again in 1996, and was rebuilt on Selva's design both times, most recently reopening in 2003.

He worked with Antonio Canova on the Tempio Canoviano at Possagno, the sculptor's domed memorial church, and designed the Teatro de la Sena at Feltre. Under Napoleonic rule he was involved in the public gardens at the eastern end of Venice, the site that later became the Biennale.

He died in 1819.