Deborah Howard directed the research project and is the primary author and editor of the book. She is Professor Emerita of Architectural History in the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. Her main specialization is the art and architecture of Venice and the Veneto. Her books include Jacopo Sansovino (1975), The Architectural History of Venice (1980, 2002), Venice and the East (2000), Sound and Space in Renaissance Venice (with L. Moretti, 2010), Venice Disputed (2011), and The Sacred Home in Renaissance Italy (with A. Brundin and M. Laven, 2018). She is a board member of the CISA Andrea Palladio in Vicenza and a Fellow of the British Academy.