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The Doge's Palace, formerly also the Doge's Palace as the seat of the
doge, one of the symbols of the city of Venice and a Venetian Gothic
masterpiece, is a building that stands in the monumental area of Piazza
San Marco, in the San Marco district, between the homonymous square and
the dock of Palazzo Ducale, adjacent to the basilica of San Marco.
Distinguished by a style which, drawing inspiration from Byzantine
and Eastern architecture, well exemplifies the intensity of the
commercial and cultural relations between the Serenissima and the other
European states, its beauty is based on an astute aesthetic and physical
paradox, connected to the fact that the heavy mass of the main body is
supported by apparently slender inlaid colonnades. The interiors, today
partly deprived of the works that once decorated them, still retain a
large art gallery, which includes works created by the most famous
Venetian masters, including Jacopo and Domenico Tintoretto, Tiziano
Vecellio, Francesco Bassano, Paolo Veronese, Giambattista Zelotti,
Jacopo Palma il Giovane, Andrea Vicentino and Antonio Vassilacchi.
Ancient seat of the Doge and the Venetian magistrates, founded after
812, hit by fire several times and consequently rebuilt, it followed the
history of the Serenissima, from its beginnings until its fall: Venice
was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy and passed the building under the
jurisdiction of the latter, it became a museum. Today it houses the
Civic Museum of Palazzo Ducale, part of the Fondazione Musei Civici di
Venezia (MUVE).
In 2018, it recorded 1 405 439 visitors.
The first Doge's Palace, of which there are no remains, was built in
Heraclia and the first doge of the Republic of Venice, Paolo Lucio
Anafesto, settled there around 700. It was followed by Marcello
Tegalliano and Orso Ipato, whose assassination in 737 led to the
establishment of an annually elected magister militum. With the ducal
office restored in 752, a new headquarters was built in the town of
Metamaucum on behalf of the new doge, Teodato Ipato, which was in turn
transferred in 812 to Rivoaltus, the ancient Rialto, by order of Angelo
Partecipazio. In this locality, considered safer, the new building was
erected, having the appearance of a castle, on land owned by the doge
himself, in the same area occupied by today's Palazzo Ducale. The
building was completed under Pietro IV Candiano (in office from 959 to
976); it must have been a rather solid structure, because it managed to
resist a popular revolt in 976.
In 998 Otto III, who went to
Venice to meet the doge Pietro II Orseolo, was lodged in the eastern
tower of the palace, being struck by the luxury of the interiors. Henry
IV of Franconia was also hosted in the palace, when he came to Venice in
1094 to see the remains of Mark the Evangelist, and Henry V in 1116,
after a renovation, not attested by the historians of the time,
following two fires that broke out in the city in 1105.
The first major Byzantine-style renovation, perhaps by Nicolò
Barattiero, who had erected the columns of San Marco and San Todaro and
built the Rialto bridge in a primary form, dates back to the Dogeship of
Sebastiano Ziani, accompanied by a more general reorganization of the
monumental area of Piazza San Marco which took place between 1173 and
1177, aimed at giving a seat to the various magistracies. The work
probably consisted in the construction of the wing facing the Palazzo
rio on land purchased from the nuns of San Zaccaria and in the expansion
of the marginal areas of the building, resulting in a substantial
reduction of the pier. At the end of the works, Pope Alexander III and
Federico Barbarossa, who had signed a peace treaty thanks to dogal
intermediation, arrived in Venice, where the emperor remained a guest in
the palace for two months.
Although the palace did not undergo
any renovation until 1301, various interventions took place in those
years: a chapel dedicated to San Nicolò was built by Pietro Ziani as an
ex voto of Enrico Dandolo, the stories of the struggle between the
Church and the Empire were painted in the Sala del Maggior Consiglio
while, under the doges Renier Zen, Lorenzo Tiepolo and Giovanni Dandolo,
the square was paved, the coronation ceremonial was introduced, a small
loggia was erected at the foot of the bell tower and the pier was
brought back to its former dimensions.
Pietro Gradenigo issued a
provision which produced a sharp increase in the number of councilors
(from 317 in 1264 to 1017 in 1311) and which consequently made it
necessary to transfer the Greater Council, placed around 1301 in the
Hall now known as the Senate Hall. In 1309, just after this
restructuring, whose authors may have been Pietro Basejo or the
architect Montagnana, mentioned by Sansovino and Temanza, the hall
proved too small and construction sites were opened in the southern
wing, which was immediately demolished and then restored within 1340.
The economic prosperity of the doge of Giovanni Soranzo gave a great
impetus to the construction site, directed by Pietro Basejo with the
assistance of Filippo Calendar.
Also as part of this
restructuring, the chapel of San Nicolò was enlarged and decorated with
the stories of Alexander III, perhaps by Guariento or by an unspecified
Paolo, a cage for lions and new cells were built on the ground floor and
in 1332 the wells in the courtyard were arranged. A document relating to
the creation of a Martian lion suggests that the monumental access to
the building in this period was similar to the current one. In 1340 the
order was given to complete the second floor of the southern wing in
which, under the direction of Calendar and Basejo, after another small
expansion, work was done along the internal facade of the Sala del
Maggior Consiglio, building a staircase and the relative brings. Due to
the participation of various insiders in the conspiracy hatched by Marin
Falier and an epidemic of plague, the work was suspended around 1355,
only to be resumed by Lorenzo Celsi, heavily criticized for his
decision. Under Marco Corner the Sala del Maggior Consiglio was
decorated by Guariento and Pisanello but, due to a series of wars which
economically weakened the Republic, the works were interrupted again
until Michele Sten gave the task of resuming them.
After the
balcony overlooking the lagoon was built in 1404, Tommaso Mocenigo
managed with difficulty to have the front on the Piazzetta San Marco
restructured as well: the works started in 1424, after the Great Council
had found its original location . The new restoration was completed
under Francesco Foscari, thanks to the work of the Bons: the Porta della
Carta was erected with various delays, the construction of which was not
completed before 1452. Under Pasquale Malipiero the front towards the
Piazzetta was completed and the stories of Pippin and a globe, while
under Cristoforo Moro the Foscari Arch was erected, again under the
Bon's care and always with a considerable delay. In 1468 the room that
would later be known as the Scrutinio room was called the Library room,
because the works donated by Cardinal Bessarion were placed there, while
in 1473 it was decided to replace some of the works in the Sala del
Maggior Consiglio, ruined by infiltrations: in the works , which lasted
until 1495, were engaged among others Giovanni and Gentile Bellini,
Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto and Paolo Veronese.
After a fire in 1483 had devastated the eastern wing, the
reconstruction works were entrusted to Antonio Rizzo, who ordered the
demolition of the sectors involved in the fire, the construction of the
portico and the reconstruction of the Scala dei Giganti to give the
building a more homogeneous appearance. The construction site reopened
in 1493, Rizzo, accused of stealing public money, fled and the work,
almost completed, was entrusted ad interim to Pietro Lombardo. The
facade on the Cortile dei Senatori is difficult to attribute and date.
The works proceeded slowly during Leonardo Loredan's dogeship, a period
during which work was carried out along the Canal, due to structural
problems it was decided to intervene in the Sala del Senato and a small
palatine chapel was demolished: to allow the coexistence of works and
institutional activities , many offices were relocated and passages were
opened, not without causing disturbance. After the Sala dello Scrutinio
was given its current form in 1531, a clock was built in the wall
between the Anticollegio and the Senate and a small watchtower was
destroyed. Under Pietro Lando the reception rooms were decorated and
under Francesco Donà a decisive turning point was given to the
construction site, entrusted to Antonio Abbondi, with the construction
of the eastern front and the internal balconies of the Sala del Maggior
Consiglio. In 1566 the installation of two statues by Jacopo Sansovino,
Mars and Neptune was carried out.
In 1574 a second fire broke out
which, controlled, did not cause significant structural damage, but
destroyed many works of art. Choosing Antonio da Ponte as construction
manager, Cristoforo Sorte, Andrea Palladio and Vincenzo Scamozzi
collaborated with him. The works lasted much longer than the foreseen
three-year period, concluding only at the beginning of the 17th century
also due to the plague.
The third great fire broke out on 20
December 1577 in the Sala dello Scrutinio: many works of art were
destroyed and the lead roof melted. After the various governing bodies
had found a new headquarters, the numerous architects consulted,
including Palladio, Francesco Sansovino and Rusconi, posed the difficult
structural question, which mainly concerned the corner towards the Ponte
della Paglia. The conflicting opinions led to a four-year restructuring,
consisting in the replacement of some structures and which found its
stabilization with the return to activity of the Sala del Maggior
Consiglio, which took place in 1578.
The ceilings were designed
by Cristoforo Sorte and Antonio da Ponte, while the conception of the
new pictorial cycles was entrusted to three experts including Gerolamo
de Bardi: the faces of the doges and the stories of Pope Alexander III
were represented on the walls, while the ceilings would have dealt with
the themes of war, the deeds of citizens and allegories. Among the most
famous artists contacted, Paolo Caliari, Jacopo Robusti, Jacopo Palma il
Giovane, Francesco Bassano and Antonio Aliense: all the construction
sites were completed by the 16th century.
Between the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the
following two other works were underway: the reconversion of the ground
floor and the construction of the New Prisons, entrusted respectively to
Bartolomeo Manopola, who built the northern elevation of the court and
completed the decoration of the 'Arch Foscari; and to Antonio da Ponte
and Antonio Contin, who completed the new building by 1602.
Under
Antonio Priuli, a large extension of the doge's apartment was built in
an adjacent building, which was later destroyed. A statue of Francesco
Maria I Della Rovere was placed in the courtyard, the room behind the
Porta del Frumento was decorated, a triumphal arch dedicated to
Francesco Morosini was erected in the Sala dello Scrutinio, the Scala
dei Giganti was restored, the five large windows overlooking the
courtyard and various paintings were restored.
After the fall of
the Serenissima
After the fall of the Republic of Venice, the palace
became an administrative headquarters and was deprived of many works of
art: from 1807 the seat of the Court of Appeal, it became the seat of
the Marciana Library in 1811 and the archaeological statuary was also
transferred there. The offices, the library and the museum were moved
respectively in 1821, in 1904 and in 1918: at the same time other small
renovations were carried out, which preceded the conversion into a
museum and the assignment of the complex to the Municipality, following
the annexation to the Kingdom of Italy.
The Palazzo Ducale is spread over three wings around the sides of a large central porticoed courtyard, the fourth side of which is made up of the lateral body of the Basilica Marciana, an ancient palatine chapel. The whole construction rests, as in the case of any other Venetian building, on a large raft made of larch trunks, which in turn supports an important base in Istrian stone. The main facades, facing Piazza San Marco and the basin of San Marco, have rather similar dimensions, given that the one facing the pier is 71.5 meters long and developed over 17 arches, while the one facing the square, longer than a arch, measures 75 meters. The third elevation instead overlooks the canal known as Rio di Palazzo, crossed by the Bridge of Sighs and which flows into the sea at the Ponte della Paglia.
The two main facades of the building, in Venetian-Gothic style,
facing the small square and the pier, develop on two colonnaded levels
dominated by a mighty inlaid marble body in which large pointed windows
open, with a monumental central balcony, richly decorated vault, and a
crowning of small cusps and angular aedicules, replacing the traditional
cornice: overall, the structure presents in the decoration a clear
reference to oriental and, to a lesser extent, Germanic architectural
styles, largely derived from the high number of cultural and commercial
contacts between the Venetians and other Mediterranean and European
peoples and the consequent importation of materials from those lands.
Between the two levels of the loggia and the wall above there is a
continuous cornice which divides the elevation into two sections of
equal height. The airy loggias with columns and ogival arches pierced
with quadrilobes, delimited by balustrades and not based on the
traditional model since they are slightly inflected, are supported by
the portico on the ground floor, which has half the openings and is
decorated with finely sculpted capitals. As the cause of the lowered
appearance of the arches on the ground floor, someone alleged that they
had raised the level of the ground; however, how this is erroneous is
demonstrated by the analyzes carried out by Angelo Zendrini and
Giannantonio Selva, which have made it possible to understand how this
elevation, although present, was of a few centimetres.
In the
book Meu sósia e eu Oscar Niemeyer devotes a section to his critical
view of these colonnades, which he describes as "beautiful". Niemeyer,
maintaining a Socratic dialogue with a hypothetical rationalist
architect, affirms that if the columns, distant from his rationalist
taste, had been made in simpler and more functional forms, they would
not create with their curves the exquisite contrast that they now
establish with the large wall smooth they claim. In the book Niemeyer
par lui-même Niemeyer affirms that Palazzo Ducale constitutes a monument
of extreme importance in the history of architecture and that its
importance lies not only in its elegance, but also in the correct use of
materials. Niemeyer also made a criticism of Andrea Palladio, stating
that his theory according to which during the renovation of the Doge's
Palace what is heavier should have been at the bottom and what is
lighter at the top would not have been appropriate. In this sense
Niemeyer compares Palazzo Ducale to modern buildings, being supported
like the latter on columns.
In the oldest part, facing the pier, there are fourteenth-century
capitals, while the corner sculptures are attributed to Filippo Calendar
or to Lombard artists such as the Ravertis or the Bregnos: at the corner
between the facade overlooking the sea and the facade overlooking the
rio of Palazzo there are two high reliefs depicting one, the one above,
the Archangel Raphael in the act of blessing and Tobiolo, the other,
below, above the Ponte della Paglia, the biblical episode of the
Drunkenness of Noah: on the corner the trunk of the vineyard is set,
which divides the scene into two parts. Towards the sea is the figure of
the elderly Noah, naked and staggering, while towards the canal are the
two sons, one of whom covers his father's nakedness with a cloth. At the
opposite end, towards the Piazzetta, above is the Archangel Michael with
drawn sword, while below Adam and Eve are depicted in a rigid frontal
position, separated by a fig tree on which the snake wraps itself with
the face of Satan. Eve holds the fruit of sin, which she points to with
her other hand.
At the center of the façade overlooks the central
balcony of the Sala del Maggior Consiglio, the work of the brothers
Jacobello and Pierpaolo dalle Masegne, built between 1400 and 1404.
Surrounded by two important octagonal piers, interrupted by niches and
culminating in pyramids, it is vertically divided in two sections of
equal development in height: one is formed by the opening, the other by
the decorative structure above; the arch of the window itself is
supported by four small columns in green and Greek marble; the balcony
is divided into six sections each decorated with four panels; six
statues line up along the piers, the lower ones representing San Teodoro
and San Giorgio (the latter by Giovanni Battista Pellegrini), the upper
ones Temperance, Justice, Fortitude and Prudence; above the real arch
there is a walled oculus (containing a simulacrum of Charity), flanked
by the statues of Faith and Hope; from the inscription and the shields
it can be deduced that the work was carried out under Michele Sten.
Above the oculus, placed on a shelf, there is a Marcian lion; above it,
in niches, are the statues of San Marco, San Pietro and San Paolo; the
crowning was rebuilt in 1579 with the placement of the Justice of
Alessandro Vittoria.
The facade towards the square was built later, starting from 1424, by
demolishing the primitive fortified building and using the facade
towards the sea as a model. The new wing, commissioned by Doge Francesco
Foscari (1423-1457), was intended for the functions of justice. In the
loggia on the first floor, also known as Loggia Foscara, it is possible
to notice two columns made of red Verona marble: between these two the
death sentences were read which would then be carried out between the
columns of San Marco and San Teodoro. Towards the square, Justice
enthroned stands out on the thirteenth column of the loggia, while on
the corner towards the Porta della Carta are the Judgment of Solomon and
the Archangel Gabriel, attributed to Bartolomeo Bono. The three
archangels, whose depiction envelops the two main fronts, have a primary
role in the decorative apparatus as they have an important didactic
function: Gabriel north/west corner symbolizes politics, Michael
south/west corner war and Raphael corner south/east trade.
The
balcony in the center of the upper order, with the Lion of San Marco,
dates back to the period between 1531 and 1538 (according to some
sources, in 1536); it was designed by Sansovino, offering a series of
references to the older one on the other side: regarding the
attribution, ancient sources wanted to find the author of this work in
the Lombards, but the main representatives of this school at the time
were already dead and the protomastro of the Republic of the time was
Sansovino, to whose workshop the style of the balcony seems to be
attributable. On the sides of this structure there are two niches with
statues of Mars and Neptune, surmounted by two Fames with torches; the
upper panel, containing a copy of the sculptural group with the Doge
Andrea Gritti and the Lion of San Marco, destroyed during the French
occupation in 1797 and rebuilt in the 19th century, is also framed by
statues, one depicting Mercury and the other Jupiter. By Alessandro
Vittoria is the statue depicting Venice, placed at the top of the
decoration.
Monumental entrance to the building, located between it and the
basilica, probably owes its name to the custom of affixing new laws and
decrees or to the presence of public scribes on the site or to the fact
that there were state document archives nearby .
The sculptural
and decorative apparatus, originally painted and gilded, is very rich.
In the two lateral pinnacles there are two figures of cardinal Virtues
on each side and crowning the whole structure is a bust of the
Evangelist surmounted by the figure of Justice with sword and scales.
Central to the apparatus is the depiction of Doge Francesco Foscari
kneeling in front of the Lion of St. Mark: it is a nineteenth-century
remake, by Luigi Ferrari, to replace the original destroyed by the
French in 1797.
It was built in flamboyant Gothic style by
Giovanni and Bartolomeo Bono as shown by the inscription on the
architrave: OPVS BARTHOLOMEI (work of Bartolomeo). However, art
historians have wondered what was the effective contribution of the
Bonos in the Porta della Carta; in fact they sometimes appear officially
as executors even when in reality they contracted the design and
execution of some works to other artists. Through stylistic analyzes and
comparisons, critics have therefore tried to trace the real architects
of the monumental Venetian portal. According to some, the statues of the
virtues placed on the pillars are attributed to Antonio Bregno. The
documents also attest that the Bonos hired Giorgio da Sebenico as a
collaborator; this fact has led to precise comparisons between the
characteristics of the statues of the Porta della Carta and those of
other sculptures by the Dalmatian artist. On the basis of these studies,
which have shown overwhelming similarities, the statues of the Fortress
and of the Temperance (those placed at the bottom on the pillars) and
other sculptures of the door have been attributed to Giorgio da
Sebenico. Other scholars come to the conclusion that Giorgio da
Sebenico's role in the Porta della Carta was even more substantial and
that the Bonos also entrusted part of its design to the Dalmatian;
according to their studies, the Arco Foscari, also in the Doge's Palace,
should also be attributed to the Dalmatian.
Going beyond the
Porta della Carta you walk through the Foscari Portico, also begun by
the Bonos but completed by Antonio Bregno, a short corridor that ends
with the Arco Foscari and leads to the internal courtyard, dominated by
the Scala dei Giganti.
Finally, the most recent of the complex is the east wing, which overlooks the Rio di Palazzo, built by Antonio Rizzo following the fire of 1483 in completely Renaissance style. Its dating is allowed, similarly to what concerns the facade towards the courtyard, by the presence of the coat of arms of the doge then in government, Giovanni Mocenigo, in power from 1478 to 1485; more precisely, its construction continued until 1560 under the direction of Antonio Abbondi. Along this front the decorative apparatus is much more bare: the statues representing the Drunkenness of Noah and the group of Raphael and Tobiolo form a corner; the only sculpture entirely placed on this front is that of the so-called Third son of Noah.
Visitors enter today through the Porta del Frumento, which owes its
name to the fact that in the past the Biade Office was located near it,
which opens in the center of the fourteenth-century south wing facing
the San Marco basin. Going along the entrance corridor you reach the
courtyard, completely surrounded by porticoes surmounted by loggias,
re-proposing the external layout of the building. The courtyard facades
were built during the reign of Marco Barbarigo and Agostino Barbarigo,
i.e. between 1485 and 1501: the dating is so precise as there are the
coats of arms of the doges who reigned at the time. While the two
internal southern and western facades, in brick, retain the
characteristic Venetian Gothic appearance of the corresponding external
facades, the eastern facade of the courtyard, towards which the
monumental staircase leads, is characterized by a Renaissance-style
marble decoration, designed by the architect Antonio Rizzo, following
the radical reconstruction of the wing following the furious fire of
1483. It is structured on four orders: the first with orthogonal pillars
supporting round arches, the second with bundles of columns and pointed
arches, while the upper floors are decorated with a dense relief
decoration with Renaissance motifs, very refined, created at the end of
the fifteenth century by Pietro Lombardo together with his sons Antonio
and Tullio.
The fourth side of the courtyard, to the north,
borders on the Basilica of San Marco and is occupied by the Porticato
Foscari. It ends with the majestic Arco Foscari, a round arch made of
white Istrian stone and red Verona marble in the second half of the
fifteenth century, while on its southern front the small clock façade
can be seen, built in the seventeenth century by Bartolomeo Manopola and
decorated with ancient sculptures from the Roman era. The monumental
staircase known as the Scalone dei Giganti starts in front of the Arco
Foscari.
Finally, in the courtyard, where the ducal coronation
ceremonies, tournaments and an annual bull hunt were held, two large
wellheads dominate for the water supply of the complex, the Alberghetti
well and the well of Niccolò de ' Conti, masterpieces of Mannerist
sculpture in bronze. The paving in trachyte and marble elements follows
the external one of the square.
Along the loggia and the portico it is possible to appreciate a long
succession of capitals and reliefs from different periods: those facing
the pier are of fourteenth-century origin, while those forming part of
the so-called Loggia Foscara date back to the fifteenth century.
The column that forms a corner with the Porta della Carta, as well as
supporting the statues of the Archangel Gabriel and the Judgment of
Solomon, has a capital on the theme of justice and lawmakers; the second
capital deals with the theme of children, the third with birds, the
fourth and ninth with virtues and vices, the fifth with teaching, the
sixth with monsters, the seventh with vices, the eighth with of virtues,
the tenth that of fruit, the eleventh that of ladies and knights, the
twelfth that of works connected to the months, the thirteenth,
characterized on the upper level by a personification of Venice, that of
marriage, the fourteenth that of nations , the fifteenth that of the
ages of man, the sixteenth that of crafts, the seventeenth that of
animals, the eighteenth that of sculptors. The column that forms the
corner between the Piazzetta and the Molo, distinguished by the presence
above of a simulacrum of the Archangel Michael and below by that of the
famous Adam and Eve group, has a capital on the theme of the creation of
man and the planets.
The decorative apparatus overlooking the
Lagoon starts from this column: the twentieth capital, second of this
prospectus, is decorated on the theme of philosophers, the twenty-first
on that of the Venetians, the twenty-second on that of ladies and
knights, the twenty-third on that of animals, the twenty-fourth for
lions, the twenty-fifth for virtues and vices, the twenty-sixth for
birds, the twenty-seventh for vices, the twenty-eighth for virtues, the
twenty-ninth for monsters, the thirtieth for that of vices and virtues,
the thirty-first on that of ladies, the thirty-second on that of
emperors, the thirty-third on that of children, the thirty-fourth on
that of knights, the thirty-fifth on that of birds, the thirty-sixth on
that of childhood: on this last pillar also contains the statues of the
Archangel Raphael, Tobiolo and Noah, which conclude the facade.
Built between 1483 and 1485 to a design by Antonio Rizzo, who
decorated it with precious reliefs including Fame and Victories, the
Scala dei Giganti owes its name to the two marble statues by Sansovino
depicting Mars and Neptune placed here in 1567. The monumental staircase
connects the courtyard to the internal loggia on the first floor and was
the place assigned to the ducal coronation ceremony. The two colossal
statues were meant to represent the power and dominion of Venice on land
and sea. Between the two statues was once placed the Lion going by Luigi
Borro.
The staircase is adjacent to the arch dedicated to Doge
Francesco Foscari, known as Arco Foscari, a true triumphal arch, round
arch, with alternating bands in Istrian stone and red Verona marble,
crowned by Gothic-style pinnacles and a group of soaring sculptures by
Antonio Bregno and other masters of Lombard origin, who represent the
allegories of the arts. The two statues by Antonio Rizzo with Adam and
Eve were also placed on the façade towards the staircase, now exhibited
inside the building and replaced by copies.
The arch is connected
to the Porta della Carta through the Foscari entrance hall, from which
one exits the Palazzo today. To the left of the Scala dei Giganti is a
small courtyard, bordered by a Renaissance building characterized by
gabled windows, built by Giorgio Spavento and Antonio Abbondi, known as
dei Senatori because the members of the Senate met there during solemn
ceremonies.
The natural continuation of the Scala dei Giganti is the Scala d'Oro,
so called due to the rich decorations in white stucco and pure gold leaf
of the vault, carried out starting from 1557 by Alessandro Vittoria,
while the frescoed panels, from the same period, they are the work of
Giambattista Franco. It was built to separate the spaces dedicated to
the private residence of the doge, located to the north, from the
courthouse, which is located to the south. Despite the deceptive
presence of the coat of arms of doge Andrea Gritti in the keystone of
the arch, the golden staircase was built during the reign of doges
Lorenzo and Girolamo Priuli, who reigned between 1556 and 1567, to a
design by Jacopo Sansovino in 1555 and completed in two phases, first by
Scarpagnino in 1559 and then under the doge of Sebastiano Venier. The
arch with the Gritti coat of arms had been erected previously and gave
onto a temporary wooden staircase, built precisely during Gritti's
dogato starting from 1538. Before Sansovino's project was carried out in
1555, architects such as Michele had already been consulted Sanmicheli
and Andrea Palladio.
As a staircase of honour, the Scala d'Oro
leads up two flights from the level of the loggias to the two upper
floors, each of which opens into a vestibule with large windows. Just
after the access arch, created by Antonio Abbondi, there are two columns
supporting marble groups executed in the mid-16th century by the
sculptor Tiziano Aspetti, depicting Hercules killing the Hydra and Atlas
holding up the world. These works clearly allude to the wisdom and
wisdom lawmakers need for good administration.
The staircase is
organized on five flights: on the first flight, of twenty steps, there
is a landing to the left of which there is a door through which one
accessed a dressing room for the royal squires. To the right of the
landing opens the second ramp, which leads in the opposite direction,
leading to the long corridor overlooked by the Sala degli Scarlatti. The
third flight is made up of eighteen steps and the Sala dello Scudo
overlooks its landing: it follows the same axis as the previous one,
leading to the level of the doge's apartment. The fourth and fifth
ramps, aligned with each other and facing each other as towards the
first and third, lead to the Square Atrium, overlooked by the Sala delle
Quattro Porte. On the first and second ramp the stuccos are arranged in
a straight line and divide the space of the vault into seven sectors.
The first ramp is dedicated to Venus and alludes to the conquest of
Cyprus, the goddess's native island. In the branch towards the doge's
apartment, the decoration exalts Neptune, signifying the dominion of
Venice over the sea.
The ground floor is organized around the central courtyard and houses
the headquarters of the Museo dell'Opera, located between the southern
and western facades; it is surrounded by a portico both on two sides of
the external wall and along the entire internal perimeter; it connects
to the upper via the Scala dei Censori and the Scala dei Giganti.
Opera Museum
The Opera Museum is located on the ground floor of
the building. In ancient times, the Opera was a kind of technical office
in charge of maintaining the building and managing the innumerable
reform and restructuring interventions it has undergone, and kept
documents and vestiges of its activity. The capitals of the Opera Museum
are a precious and important part of the array of sculptures and reliefs
that enrich the medieval facades of Palazzo Ducale. In particular, in
1875, during an important restructuring plan, 42 capitals were removed
and replaced with copies: the originals, which were unsafe and in a
state of decay, were carefully restored and placed in the museum. The
importance of the capitals lies in the fact that they not only
constituted an exceptional work of art, but also transmitted historical,
moral and political teachings which however are difficult to interpret
today. In 1995-96 the capitals were reinstalled in their original
location. The current layout is developed in six rooms.
Plan of
the lodges
At the top of the Scala dei Giganti is the vast system of
loggias, which, surrounding the palace from the inside and the outside
and retaining part of the layout of the original fortress, support the
imposing bulk above, giving Palazzo Ducale the typical sensation of
reversal, with the closed massive part above and the airy and light part
below.
This floor housed a series of smaller rooms intended for
the administration and services of the building, as well as the Lower
Ducal Chancellery (now a bookshop) and the museum bookshop.
Several snapdragons are set on the wall into which, starting from the
end of the 16th century, reports of crimes or embezzlements could be
introduced. Once inserted into the slot, the ticket ended up in the
wooden box that opened on the other side of the wall, in correspondence
with the office to which the complaint was addressed.
Also on
this floor were two important rooms.
The Sala dello Scrigno,
which housed the Golden Book, in which all the names of the Venetian
patricians were inscribed, and the Silver Book, in which the families of
the Originarii, i.e. full-fledged Venetian citizens, were listed, which
the doors of the administration were open, all accompanied by documents
capable of proving the regularity of these registrations. These two
documents were kept in a casket, kept inside a wardrobe, eponymous to
this room. The current one dates back to the 18th century, and is
decorated in shades of white and gold. This room is decorated with
numerous portraits of lawyers, made by Alessandro Longhi, Pietro Uberti
and Vincenzo Guarana and communicates with the Avogadria and with the
Sala della Milizia da Mar.
The Hall of the Militia da Mar; this
body, made up of about twenty members of the Senate and the Major
Council, was established in the mid-16th century and had the task of
recruiting crews for the war galleys of the powerful Venetian fleet. The
frontals date back to the 16th century, while the torch holders are two
centuries later. This environment, communicating with the Cancelleria,
with the Sala della Bolla and with the Sala dello Scrigno, overlooks the
Rio di Palazzo.
The judicial rooms of the loggia floor
Also on the
level of the loggias are the rooms intended for administrative justice:
the judicial offices in fact constituted a vertical system gathered in
the corner between the wing of the pier and that of the Palazzo rio and
developed over the entire height of the building, connecting to each
other through stairs and passages. Loggias found a place on the floor.
The Sala dell'Avogaria de Comùn housed an ancient judiciary formed
by three members elected by the Maggior Consiglio who were responsible
for maintaining constitutional legality. Another task of this judiciary
was to watch over the purity of the patrician component, judging the
legitimacy of marriages and births relating to families registered in
the Golden Book. Among the portraits of Avogadori, many of them in
adoration in front of the Virgin, the saints or Christ, there are works
by Jacopo and Domenico Tintoretto.
These spaces led to the Bridge of
Sighs, which, crossing the Rio di Palazzo, connected the Palace to the
building of the New Prisons.
Leaving the Sala del Magistrato alle Leggi and taking a small downward staircase, you find yourself in a narrow corridor between stone walls, which is none other than one of the two crossings of the Bridge of Sighs. Built in 1614 to join the Palazzo Ducale to the new adjacent building destined for the New Prisons, it is closed and covered and reveals in the external decorative apparatus a taste that anticipates the Baroque innovations. Inside it is crossed by two parallel corridors, separated by a wall. The first puts the prisons in contact with the Magistrato alle Legge and Quarantia Criminal rooms. The second, however, connects the Prisons to the Avogaria Halls and the Parlatorio. Both communicate with the service staircase that connects Pozzi and Piombi. The term Sighs was coined in the Romantic era, alluding to the fact that the prisoners, when they were led from the halls of the magistrates to the New Prisons, sighed as they could glimpse the lagoon for an instant (and in particular the island of San Giorgio Maggiore).
The Palazzo delle Prigioni Nuove is an annex of the Palazzo Ducale,
located in the Castello district, on the opposite side of the Rio di
Palazzo. In the early years of the Republic, legislative, judicial and
detention functions coexisted in Palazzo Ducale. Soon, however, this
space proved too narrow to accommodate the large number of prisoners
crowding the cells, and the risk of a major health emergency growing.
The decision to use the building that once stood where it stands today
as a prison, located near the Ponte della Paglia, which has this name
due to the fact that boats loaded with straw stopped there, was taken by
the Great Council at the end of the 15th century. This operation did not
improve the conditions of the prisoners, as the old house guaranteed
even more precarious hygienic conditions. The Prigion Nova was then
replaced by the Prigion Novissima, whose building site lasted about a
hundred years due to the continuous expansions. The decision to purchase
other adjacent lots was only made effective in 1574: architects such as
Antonio Da Ponte and Zanmaria de Piombi were consulted for the
construction of the new wing: although the two projects did not present
substantial differences, the first one was chosen, characterized by the
presence of a portico and an upper floor intended for the Sala dei
Signori di Notte and the Camera del Tormento, which was accessed via a
representative staircase. Overall, the elevation is clearly inspired by
16th century art for the austere lines, the use of stone and the
arrangement of arches and windows. The rear part, joined to the previous
building, instead provided for three floors of cells joined by the
patrol corridors. Passing through the main courtyard one could reach the
internal church; a second courtyard, L-shaped, had been created by
demolishing a building intended for the Inquisition. The side facade has
a simpler language.
This construction proved to be
extraordinarily modern for the time as it improved the services
available to prisoners and made larger cells available to them.
Furthermore, it was the first building in all of Europe to have been
used only as a place for detention and not to have legislative functions
as well, like the Palazzo Ducale before. After the designer's death in
1597, the construction site was continued by Antonio and Tommaso Contin,
who built the famous Bridge of Sighs to join the new factory to Palazzo
Ducale. The building, also used by the Austrians and the French, stopped
working only in 1919 as it was no longer suitable for modern hygiene
standards.
The first ramp (consisting of two staircases in sequence) of the Scala d'Oro gives you the main access. On the noble floor of the building, to the north, between the Rio di Palazzo and the internal courtyard, are the rooms reserved for the Doge and, to the south, between the internal courtyard and the Molo, those intended for meetings and voting by the Great Council. Other possibilities of access to the floor are the staircase that connects the first landing of the Scala d'Oro to the former Archaeological Museum and the Scala dei Censori, built in 1522.
It is made up of a series of
rooms intended for the prince, overlooking the Rio di Palazzo, and is
accessed from the atrium at the end of the first flight of the Scala
d'Oro, on the left. Currently the premises lack the original furniture
as, being this property of the individual doges, it was taken away by
the heirs after the death of the ruler. However, the pictorial and
plastic decoration of the ceilings remains, to which Pietro Lombardo
also contributed.
The Sala degli Scarlatti was used as an
antechamber for the ducal councilors, from the color of whose clothes it
takes its name. These were magistrates in charge of accompanying the
doge in official ceremonies. Currently the room appears rather bare as
of the ancient decoration it retains only the carved ceiling, the work
of Biagio and Pietro da Faenza, characterized by the presence of the
coat of arms of Andrea Gritti. As in the other rooms, this too has an
imposing fireplace, originally from the early 16th century, built by
Antonio and Tullio Lombardo and characterized by a Barbarigo coat of
arms on the hood. Lombardesca is also the marble decoration below the
entrance door, depicting the doge Leonardo Loredan in prayer; important
works of this room are the Resurrection by Giuseppe Salviati and the
Madonna with child by Titian. The Sala degli Scarlatti can be accessed
through the long corridor that once housed the Archaeological Museum or
through the Sala dello Scudo.
The Sala degli Squires, intended
for the Doge's squires. The stables were appointed by the doge and must
always be available to him. They performed various functions, from
antechamber services to carrying dogal symbols in parades and
processions. Originally it was from this room that one entered the
doge's apartment. The bare-looking room stands out for the presence of
two monumental portals dating back to the end of the 15th century: one
leads into the Sala dello Scudo, the other leads to the Scala d'Oro, at
the level of the first landing.
The Sala dello Scudo, in which the
reigning doge displayed his coat of arms and gave private audiences and
banquets, forms a single room with the Sala dei Filosofi, together with
which it reconstructs the typical T-shape of the representative rooms of
ancient Venetian residences. Given the reception function of the room,
the large decoration with geographical maps, created for the first time
in the 16th century, after the fire of 1483, was conceived to underline
the illustrious and glorious tradition on which the power of the state
rested. The curators of this decorative work were Giovan Battista
Ramusio, Giovanni Domenico Zorzi and Giacomo Gastaldi, who respectively
created the maps of the Mediterranean, Asia Minor, the Eastern
Mediterranean and the Travels of Marco Polo. It was then rearranged in
1762 by Francesco Griselini who enriched it with the paintings of the
most famous Venetian explorers, commissioned by Marco Foscarini: Nicolò
and Antonio Zen, Pietro Querini and Alvise da Mosto. The two revolving
globes located in the center of the room are contemporary, representing
the celestial vault and the Earth. On the wall above the door there is a
fresco by Titian with San Cristoforo. The sign on display is that of
Doge Ludovico Manin.
The Sala dei Filosofi, long and narrow, a
sort of corridor overlooked by other rooms, owes its name to twelve
paintings with ancient philosophers created by Paolo Veronese and other
artists in the second half of the sixteenth century for the room of the
Marciana Library, which were here, on the initiative of Doge Marco
Foscarini (1762-1763) and remained there until 1929, replaced by the
allegorical figures now arranged on the walls. Note, on the left wall, a
small door which, located at the base of a staircase leading to the
upper floor, allowed the doge to reach the rooms where the Senate and
the College worked without leaving his apartment.
The Grimani Room,
the Erizzo Room and the Priuli Room, intended for the private life of
the Doge and with access to a roof garden. These are rooms facing the
central courtyard, aligned along the Sala dei Filosofi which therefore
acts as a portego.
The Grimani Room, the Erizzo Room and the
Priuli Room, intended for the private life of the Doge and with access
to a roof garden. These are rooms facing the central courtyard, aligned
along the Sala dei Filosofi which therefore acts as a portego.
The Grimani Room takes its name from the Grimani coat of arms, depicted
in the center of the ceiling. This powerful family gave three doges to
the Republic: Antonio (1521-1523), Marino (1595-1605) and Pietro
(1741-1752). On the walls there are important paintings depicting the
Lion of St. Mark, one by Jacobello del Fiore (1415), one by Donato
Veneziano (1495) and the famous lion by Vittore Carpaccio (1516) with
the front paws on the ground and the hind ones on the waves to symbolize
the dominion of the Republic on land and seas. Under the ceiling, there
is an allegorical frieze on the themes of San Marco with the Lion,
Geography, Agriculture, Law, Architecture, Venice in a feminine figure,
Astronomy, Reward, Virgin, attributed to Andrea Vicentino. The carved
ceiling dates back to the dogato of Marco Barbarigo and Agostino
Barbarigo, i.e. to the period between 1485 and 1501: the coat of arms of
this family is located on the Lombard fireplace.
The Erizzo Room has
the coat of arms of Francesco Erizzo on the massive fireplace, dating
back to the end of the 15th century. The coat of arms, flanked by Venus
and Vulcan, was applied to the fireplace only at a later time. The
ceiling has golden carvings on a light blue background. An allegorical
frieze, marked by the presence of cherubs and symbols of war, highlights
the military ability of the doge.
The Sala Priuli, on the other hand,
has the coat of arms of Lorenzo Priuli on the fireplace with allegorical
figures; it is also distinguished by the stucco caryatid decoration that
distinguishes the vault: it is also known as Sala degli Stucchi. This
decorative work dates back to the Doge of Marino Grimani. Pietro Grimani
instead commissioned the wall stuccoes and had the frames made for the
paintings once exhibited here, illustrating episodes from the life of
Christ and a portrait of Henry III of France, attributed to Jacopo
Tintoretto. Following the fires of 1574 and 1577 it was necessary to
provide for the new decoration. In the 17th century, when the apartment
was enlarged, the Sala degli Stucchi was connected to the Canonica di
San Marco. That link was demolished in the 19th century.
The Sala
delle Volte, the Sala dell'Udienza and the Sala dell'Antiudienza were
secondary rooms. The Sala delle Volte was probably used as a private
room for the doge. The Audience Hall was decorated with a fireplace in
Carrara marble, carved with decorations depicting cherubs on dolphins
and the lion of St. Mark in the centre, and a wooden frieze: both works
date back to the end of the 15th century. The precise function of the
Sala dell'Antiudienza is not known and from this we can deduce that this
room, adorned with a magnificent fireplace, changed use several times.
Sala dei Cuoi, with its leather decorations on the walls, was the
Quarantia archive.
Room of the Quarantia Civil Vecchia, intended for
the civil justice of the Venetian territory and maritime domains. It is
one of the oldest rooms in the building, as evidenced by the presence of
a Gothic mullioned window on the back wall; despite this, its appearance
is characterized by the presence of numerous paintings dating back to
the 17th century.
Sala dell'Armamento or Sala del Guariento,
connected to the overlying Armory, had the function of housing a deposit
of weapons and ammunition, and was initially connected to the Halls of
Arms and the Council of Ten. Currently there are preserved the remains
of a fresco by Guariento di Arpo depicting the Coronation of the Virgin,
but it was considerably damaged in the fire of 1577. There is also
preserved one of the sketches (oil on canvas) of Paradise by Jacopo
Tintoretto, the large canvas which replaced the fresco by Guariento
after the fire of 1577 which destroyed the Sala del Maggior Consiglio.
This series of rooms on one side were connected to the Liagò, i.e.
the veranda intended for the strolling of the nobles during breaks in
the sessions of the adjacent Maggior Consiglio, while on the other they
were connected to the overlying and underlying judicial rooms on the
second floor and of the lodges.
The main hall of the Palazzo, located on the corner between the Molo
and the Piazzetta, receives light through seven large pointed windows.
It was once the seat of the highest Venetian judiciary, the Maggior
Consiglio, which had the task of legislating and electing all the main
offices of the state. Born as a popular assembly, it later acquired
highly noble characteristics, the apotheosis of which occurred in 1297
with the Serrata del Maggior Consiglio, which excluded from it all
citizens not belonging to aristocratic families registered in the
so-called Golden Book or under the age of twenty-five years. The
interior of the room is completely free from support columns and the
structural stability of the ceiling is possible thanks to an intelligent
system of beams and massive trusses. Its enormous dimensions, 53.50
meters long by 25 wide and 15.40 high, which made it one of the largest
halls in Europe, are due to the number of participants in the Great
Council, which has come to include between 1200 and the 2,000 members,
who sat on a series of long double-seated benches placed perpendicularly
to the back wall, where the podium was located for the Doge and the
Signoria. The venue was also used for other functions, such as solemn
receptions to celebrate the visit of foreign political authorities,
including Henry III of France. After the fall of the Serenissima, the
democratic Municipality began to meet in this room, which soon had to
give way first to the Marciana National Library and then, once the
Austrians were expelled, to the Assembly of the provisional government.
Renovated for the first time in the fourteenth century, the new
paintings were entrusted to Guariento, who created the frescoes on the
back wall, some fragments of which are still preserved today in the Sala
del Guariento, to Gentile da Fabriano, Pisanello, Gentile Bellini, to
Alvise Vivarini, Vittore Carpaccio, Antonio Veneziano, Jacobello del
Fiore and Michele Giambono. Destroyed by fire in 1577, the room was
decorated again between 1578 and 1585 by Paolo Veronese, Tintoretto,
Jacopo Palma il Giovane, Francesco Bassano, Andrea Vicentino and
Gerolamo Gambarato. The preparatory drawings were made by the Florentine
monk Gerolamo de Bardi and by the Venetian historian Francesco
Sansovino, son of the more famous Jacopo, who thought of dividing the
subjects to be painted on the walls into four groups. The result was
grandiose and extremely rich, despite the value of the individual works
being neither sublime nor worthy of the fame of the authors themselves,
who were affected by the decadent mannerism rampant in Venetian painting
during the 16th century.
In particular, Tintoretto was entrusted
with the decoration that covers the entire back wall, behind the throne:
Paradise, which represents the largest canvas in the world, with its
twenty-two meters in length by seven and a half in height. It was
painted between 1588 and 1592 in collaboration with his son Domenico,
divided into several parts then assembled, replacing the previous fresco
by Guariento, representing the same theme. For its construction, the
Senate consulted the most famous painters of the time, Tintoretto,
Veronese, Palma il Giovane and Bassano. Three sketches for the work,
later created by Tintoretto, are now kept in the Louvre, the Lille
Museum and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. A further sketch, made by
Jacopo Tintoretto, attributed in 1974 after a restoration, is currently
exhibited in Venice at Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo. In this work, the
artist imagines a celestial world that revolves around the glory of
Christ and the Virgin.
The enormous ceiling encloses, between
large gilded wooden frames, 35 paintings on canvas, separated by a
complex frame made up of folders, volutes and festoons. This structure,
designed by Cristoforo Sorte who divided it into thirty-five departments
of different importance, is spread over three orders. Of the thirty-five
works, twenty are monochrome and represent historical facts painted by
minor artists, while the fifteen major paintings concern historical and
allegorical facts in which the Serenissima is the protagonist, by the
hand of Tintoretto, Veronese, Palma il Giovane and Bassano. Among these
we remember the canvas Pietro Mocenigo leads the assault on the city of
Smyrna. The most famous painting, the Triumph of Venice, crowned by
Victory, the large oval in the center of the ceiling towards Paradise,
is by Veronese. This is the last great allegorical canvas by Veronese,
who in this one has chosen to depict a personification of Venice
surrounded by the goddesses of Olympus and crowned by a Victory. The
anomalous position of Vittoria, which seems almost immortalized in the
act of performing a somersault, could allude to the recent defeats of
Venice in the fight against the Ottomans. In the central ovate is
depicted the Apotheosis of Nicolò Da Ponte, the doge under whose
government the impressive decorative apparatus was created.
Immediately under the ceiling runs a frieze with portraits of the first
seventy-six doges in Venetian history (the portraits of the rest are
placed in the Sala dello Scrutinio). These are imaginary effigies, given
that those prior to 1577 were destroyed in the fire, commissioned from
Jacopo Tintoretto but mostly executed by his son Domenico.
Chronologically, this work includes all the doges included between the
dogate of Obelerio Antenoreo and the government of Francesco Venier. The
most important works of his dogeship are shown on the scroll that each
doge holds in his hand. Doge Marin Faliero, who attempted a coup d'état
in 1355, is represented by a black cloth: condemned while alive to
beheading and damnatio memoriae, i.e. the total cancellation of his name
and his image, as a traitor to the republican institution . On the
ceiling, in correspondence with the portraits, is the doge's coat of
arms.
Along the remaining walls there are a total of twenty-one
canvases, mostly painted in 1587, which narrate episodes and facts
belonging to the history of the Serenissima, celebrating its origins.
These works, executed among others by Benedetto and Carletto Caliari,
pupils of Veronese, Leandro Bassano, Jacopo Tintoretto, Andrea
Vicentino, Palma il Giovane, Giulio Del Moro, Antonio Vassilacchi,
Giovanni Le Clerc, can be divided into three cycles, which describe each
a different historical moment:
the participation of the
Serenissima, led by Sebastiano Ziani, in the struggles for power between
the Church and the Empire, led respectively by Pope Alexander III and
Federico Barbarossa (1176-1177). This group consists of eleven canvases
and is located on the wall opposite the windows;
the Fourth Crusade
(1201-1204), whose representation is on the opposite wall;
the
victory of the Serenissima over the Republic of Genoa (1377-1378). Among
these works we recall Doge Andrea Contarini returns victorious to Venice
after defeating the Genoese army in Chioggia, one of Paolo Veronese's
last works.
In the small passage that connects the Sala del Maggior Consiglio to that of the Scrutinio there are two commemorative bronze plaques on both sides of the window: the first recalls the result of the scrutiny of the Veneto plebiscite of 1866 which confirmed the annexation of the Veneto provinces and Mantua to the Kingdom of Italy at the end of the third Italian war of independence, while the second plaque celebrates the vote of 2 April 1849 which decreed the resistance to the bitter end of the Republic of San Marco against the Austrian Empire.
The room, which like the adjacent passage actually connects the Sala del Maggior Consiglio to that of the Scrutinio, housed the Quarantia Civil Nova, a judiciary established in 1492 to settle disputes between citizens of the mainland. The decoration of this environment is mostly entrusted to allegorical works dating back to the 17th century. Among the artists who worked here, Giovanni Battista Lorenzetti. The ceiling dates back to the 16th century: it is characterized by the gilded beam.
The name of the room derives from the votes that were held there, in
particular those for the new doge.
Located in the wing facing the
Piazzetta and directly connected to the Sala del Maggior Consiglio, this
vast room was created during the reign of Francesco Foscari to house the
Marciana Library. Starting from 1532, however, it became the place for
the scrutiny of the frequent and continuous deliberations of the
assemblies of the Republic. The library, on the other hand, found a
different location in the new and facing Library building. This room was
also devastated by the fire of 1577, which destroyed the magnificent
decorative apparatus among which the famous Battle of Lepanto by Jacopo
Tintoretto stood out, the new decorative cycle, prepared by the monk
Gerolamo de Bardi, to be carried out in the new wall structure erected
by order by Doge Da Ponte, envisaged a cycle made up of paintings
depicting the naval victories of the Venetians in the East as well as
that relating to the conquest of Padua in 1405. The paintings were
almost all commissioned to Tintoretto, Veronese and their pupils:
however there were some variations in the programme, so that some
paintings were added in the following century.
The rich
compartment ceiling was designed by Cristoforo Sorte and was completed
between 1578 and 1585: it was made up of about forty paintings placed
inside a gilded structure. The five central ones depict the struggle of
Venice with the maritime republics, while the others are allegories. The
various paintings that make up the perimeter of the ceiling are the work
of various artists, including Andrea Vicentino, Francesco Montemezzano,
Niccolò Bambini, Antonio Vassilacchi, Giulio Del Moro, Camillo Ballini.
Just below the ceiling is the frieze depicting the Portraits of the last
forty-two doges, which completes the one in the Sala del Maggior
Consiglio and portrays the doges from Lorenzo Priuli to Ludovico Manin.
The first seven paintings were made by Tintoretto, while the others were
commissioned by individual doges to a contemporary painter.
On
the walls, above the courthouse, is the Last Judgment by Jacopo Palma il
Giovane, enriched as regards the upper edge by eight lunettes, created
by Andrea Vicentino, depicting the Four Evangelists and the Four
Prophets. On the wall opposite this work is the triumphal arch dedicated
to Francesco Morosini, victorious against the Turks in the East,
designed by Andrea Tirali, erected in 1694 and adorned with six
allegorical paintings by Gregorio Lazzarini. The two remaining walls,
the longer ones, are adored by ten works depicting the main naval and
land victories of the Venetian army: these paintings were made by Andrea
Vicentino, Sebastiano Ricci, Antonio Vassilacchi, Marco Vecellio and
Jacopo Tintoretto, among others.
On 27 October 1866, the scrutiny
of the results of the plebiscite for the annexation of the Veneto to the
Kingdom of Italy which took place on 21 and 22 October took place in
this room; the definitive results were announced from the balcony of the
hall on the evening of 27 October by the president of the Court of
Appeal of Venice, Sebastiano Tecchio.
The second flight of the Scala d'Oro leads to it, which ends in the so-called Atrium Square, overlooking the courtyard of the building. Between the Scala d'Oro and the pier there are rooms dedicated to the Council of Ten, which has its headquarters here, the room of the Three Chiefs and the Armory. Between the Scala d'Oro and the Basilica of San Marco, after the Sala delle Quattro Porte, there are rooms dedicated to the Senate and the College.
The atrium or square living room is a sort of vestibule, whose main value lies in the decorative apparatus, made up as regards the walls by paintings by Francesco Bassano, Paolo Fiammingo and followers of Veronese and as regards the ceiling, richly carved and decorated with gilding, from a system of decoration that finds its culmination in a work by Jacopo Tintoretto, celebrating the glory of Doge Girolamo Priuli. At the corners of the ceiling are four biblical scenes of allegorical significance.
This room, richly decorated and distinguished by four majestic marble
portals, owes its current appearance to the reconstruction of this wing
following the terrible fire of 1574 and entrusted to Antonio da Ponte
based on a project by Andrea Palladio and Gianantonio Rusconi. The room
presents pictorial works by Tintoretto, Titian, Giulio Del Moro,
Gerolamo Campagna, Gabriele and Carletto Caliari, Alessandro Vittoria,
Andrea Vicentino and Tiepolo. Before the fire of 1574, this room was the
seat of the College, that is, it served as a suitable place for meetings
of the lordship. Later it began to function as a simple transit area and
as a waiting room for Senate and Signoria hearings: this is not without
its architectural interest. It is located at the mouth of the Scala
d'Oro, beyond the Atrium Square.
The salient elements of this
room are its development along the entire depth of the building, which
determines the presence of multi-mullioned windows both on the side
facing the courtyard and on the side facing the Rio di Palazzo, and the
presence of four monumental doors leading towards the Anticollegio, the
Quadrato Hall, the Hall of the Council of Ten and the Senate Hall. The
grandiose portals in veined marble consist of Corinthian columns which
each support an architrave holding three allegorical statues. The most
valuable, on the portal of the Anticollegio, are by Alessandro Vittoria.
The barrel-vaulted ceiling according to a Palladio project carried out
by Giovanni Cambi known as il Bombarda, is decorated with sumptuous
white and gilded stuccos, created by Giovanni Cambi, which frame the
frescoes by Tintoretto but also contribute to the decoration itself. The
stuccos are so valuable that this room is sometimes known as the Sala
degli Stucchi. The project of the frescoes is attributed to Francesco
Sansovino. The walls are entirely covered with canvases with historical
or allegorical subjects of which Venice is the protagonist. The most
famous of the works is The Doge Antonio Grimani in adoration before the
Faith painted by Titian around 1575. It dates back to 1745 Venice
receives the gifts of the sea from Neptune, by Giambattista Tiepolo,
originally inserted on the ceiling and now displayed on an easel in
front to the windows so you can appreciate the colors. Henry III, King
of France arrives in Venice welcomed by the doge Alvise Mocenigo and the
patriarch is instead a work by Andrea Vicentino, executed between 1595
and 1600, which, while not excelling from an artistic point of view,
commemorates the initiatives undertaken by the Serenissima to celebrate
the arrival of the monarch.
In the same room, the wall painting
of the ambassadors of Nuremberg receiving the Venetian laws in
accordance with their government deserves mention, the work of the
brothers Carlo and Gabriele Caliari.
The copy of the laws was
granted by Doge Loredano between 1506 and 1508, with the approval of the
local Senate, which then commissioned two works of art in order to hand
down to posterity the memory of a fact which demonstrated the respect
and reverence they had for their [Venetian] laws also the other nations,
completely ignored by the authors who report the events against the
Confederate arms in Cambrais.
An early version was painted in
chiaroscuro by Andrea Vicentino in the mezzanine of the Sala del
Consiglio Maggiore, describing a Senator as he delivers a copy of the
code to the four ambassadors by hand. Subsequently, the brothers Carlo
and Gabriele Caliari, shortly after the death of their father and master
Paolo, painted the same scene using color, in its historic setting in
the Sala del Consiglio Maggiore: the doge on the throne, close to the
councilors, one of whom delivers the precious book to one of the four
defendants
The four legates of Nuremberg were patricians of the
city, depicted in the two paintings in the Doge's Palace wearing
sumptuous robes from their country of origin. The Doge delivers 12
sheets of parchment illustrated and in Latin which present the Venetian
private civil law as it was at the time.
The fact was confirmed
by Giustiniani, Pietro, Limneo on the testimony of Scotti, Doglioni, and
various Alemanni historians.
As of 1863, the original handed over to
the legates was conserved in the Curia Tutoria of Nuremberg, and a
second copy present in Venice. Nuremberg had equipped itself with many
institutions of Roman law, then changing to adopt the public
institutions of Venice.
From the Sala delle Quattro Porte one also had access to the Sala
dell'Anticollegio, also communicating with the Collegio, where among the
works of Veronese, Tintoretto and Alessandro Vittoria the delegations
waited to be received by the Signoria of Venice. This room was therefore
the antechamber of honor that preceded the residence hall of the
Signoria. Even the decoration of this room is the result of the
reconstruction following the fire of 1574, based on designs by Palladio
and Giovanni Antonio Rusconi, although the works were completed by the
proto Antonio Da Ponte.
The vault is covered by very rich
stuccoes which enclose frescoes by Paolo Veronese, unfortunately
deteriorated. In the octagon in the center, Venice is painted in the
bright colors of Veronese in the act of conferring honors and rewards,
while the monochrome ovals are now difficult to read. The canvases on
the walls are of remarkable beauty, the work of the major authors of the
second half of the sixteenth century in Venice. The walls were once
covered with gilded leather.
Among the works present on the
walls, by Tintoretto are the four mythological paintings on the sides of
the doors, initially intended for the opposite Sala delle Quattro Porte
and created in the year 1576: Three Graces and Mercury, Ariadne, Venus
and Bacchus, Peace, the Concordia and Minerva chasing Mars, Forge of
Vulcan. This cycle, whose canvases are symmetrically arranged in stucco
frames, based on a very complex iconographic program, is one of the
painter's major works in the mythological and allegorical fields. The
figures, which have the various seasons of the year as a background,
allude to moments of prosperity and harmony and at the same time to the
four primordial elements: earth, water, air and fire. Opposite the
windows are the Rape of Europa by Veronese (a work executed in 1580
which with its slight melancholy will inspire eighteenth-century
Venetian painters) and the Return of Jacob by Jacopo Bassano
(contemporary to the previous one and characterized by an extraordinary
realism). The imposing fireplace in white marble, which shows a frieze
and a dentil clearly inspired by Palladio and is located along the wall
where the windows open, is supported by two telamons, attributed to
Girolamo Campagna, surmounted by a bas-relief representing Venus asks
Vulcan for weapons by Tiziano Aspetti. On the portal there is a
sculptural group made up of three figures, all by Alessandro Vittoria,
depicting Venice between the Concordia and the Glory.
The Sala del Collegio, communicating both with the Anticollegio and
with the Sala del Senato, was intended for the meetings of the Collegio
dei Savi and the Serenissima Signoria, separate but interconnected
bodies which, when they met together, constituted the so-called "Pien
College". Here foreign ambassadors were received, and it was therefore
necessary that the room was particularly sumptuous. Built to a design by
Palladio and Giovanni Antonio Rusconi, but built under the supervision
of Antonio Da Ponte, it bears on the right wall one of the two clock
faces that the room shares with the adjacent Senate hall, and paintings
by Tintoretto , located on the walls and executed between 1581 and 1584
and by Veronese, which make up the ceiling and among which there is a
depiction of the Battle of Lepanto. Among the works of Tintoretto we
recall the painting depicting the mystical wedding of Saint Catherine
which is attended by the doge Francesco Donà surrounded by Prudence,
Temperance, Eloquence and Charity, characterized, like the others, by
the additional difficulty of having to combine a votive episode with the
dogal portrait, which however will produce incredible results in terms
of solutions aimed at breaking the effect of monotony and
repetitiveness.
The ceiling, among the most beautiful in the
building, is one of Paolo Veronese's most famous masterpieces, to whom
we owe the eleven canvases that decorate it, with wooden decorations by
Francesco Bello and Andrea da Faenza. Also by these two artists, who
worked under Palladio's project, is also the court with the central
doge's throne with rich entablature. In the oval in the center Faith and
Religion are represented; Faith, dressed in white and gold, shows the
chalice, while below her is represented an ancient sacrifice with
priests burning incense and preparing to sacrifice the lamb. Also in the
center are Mars and Neptune with, in the background, the bell tower and
the lion of San Marco, and Venice enthroned between Justice and Peace (a
work also known as Venice welcomes Justice and Peace, executed between
1575 and 1577 and characterized both by an extraordinary realism and by
the interesting perspective solution offered by the presence of a
semicircular staircase). The other eight "T" and "L" shaped canvases,
characterized by an exceptional chromaticism, contain female
personifications of the virtues that can be identified through the
attributes that accompany them: a dog for fidelity, a lamb for meekness,
the ermine for purity, a nut and crown for reward, an eagle for
moderation, the cobweb for dialectics, a crane for vigilance, and a
cornucopia for prosperity.
Above the benches intended for the
Doge and the six wise men, also by Veronese is the votive portrait of
the doge Sebastiano Venier, where the doge is represented kneeling to
give thanks to the Redeemer for the victory of Lepanto, painted in the
background. It is a work aimed at celebrating the deeds of Sebastiano
Venier and the administrator Agostino Barbarigo, in which there are also
the figures of Saints Mauro and Giustina and the allegories of the Faith
and of Venice. Along the wall that houses the windows is a huge
fireplace, designed by Girolamo Campagna who made the side statues,
depicting Hercules and Mercury.
The Sala delle Quattro Porte leads to this room, which also
communicates with the Collegio, overlooking the Rio di Palazzo and
intended for meetings of the Consiglio dei Pregadi (or Senate), deputy
to govern the Republic. The room still retains its old name: it was also
called dei Pregati as its members were "prayed" to participate in the
meetings of the Council by means of a written invitation. More
precisely, the senators were elected by the Great Council among the
patricians who had distinguished themselves in battle or in the
administration of the Republic. Devastated by a fire in 1574, which
caused the loss of the previous decoration created by Carpaccio,
Giorgione and Titian, its reconstruction was entrusted to Antonio Da
Ponte and its decoration to other important masters, including
Tintoretto, supported by his workshop played a very important role.
Rich and solemn, with splendid inlays and gilding, the room houses
works by Tintoretto and Jacopo Palma il Giovane, immersed in the
luminous gilding of which the room abounds. The pictorial cycles that
enrich the walls were created between 1585 and 1595 during the reign of
Pasquale Cicogna. The doge himself was represented in two works, one
placed along the walls and one forming part of the ceiling decoration.
On the wall opposite the windows are two large clocks, one of which
shows the signs of the zodiac. The clock that marked the hours turned
anticlockwise, like all clocks made in that era and all hours of the day
are indicated, both morning and afternoon, starting from the apex at 6
in the morning because according to the medievals the day began at that
hour, when the sun was rising.
As for the decoration of the
walls, it was made for celebratory purposes. Above the seats of the
senators, rebuilt during the 18th century, and above the courthouse
there is a cycle illustrating the works of some doges. Among these
stands out the dead Christ adored by the doges Pietro Lando and
Marcantonio Trevisan, created by Tintoretto. The other walls present
themes relating to allegories and their decorations were mainly made by
Palma il Giovane, who was however helped in the work by artists such as
Domenico Tiepolo, Marco Vecellio and Tintoretto himself. Another
important work by Palma il Giovane present in the room is the Allegory
of the victory over the League of Cambrai, created around the year 1590
and aimed at celebrating the war between Venice and the other European
powers, allied against it through the League of Cambrai : the
protagonist of the canvas is the doge Leonardo Loredan.
There are
massive gilded wooden frames as decorations on the ceiling, completed in
1581 and designed by Cristoforo Sorte, which embed works by Tintoretto,
Marco Vecellio, Andrea Vicentino, Antonio Vassilacchi, Tommaso
Dolabella, Palma il Giovane and Gerolamo Gambarato. The gilded wooden
frame can be said to be composed of the union of cartouches, scrolls and
festoons. In the center stands out the large rectangular canvas painted
by Tintoretto with the help of his son, Domenico, with Venice seated
among the gods. It depicts the Triumph of Venice as a growing vortex of
mythological creatures of marine origin, rising towards Venice, seated
in the center, to offer gifts and recognitions. Among the council of
gods that surround the Serenissima dressed in royal clothes, we
recognize Apollo, Mercury, Cronus, Mars and Vulcan.
An ancient church is connected to the Sala del Senato, notable for its decoration made up of neoclassical stuccos and frescoes, created by Jacopo Guarana. From this room one entered the private church of the Senate, used only by the senators and the doge, restructured by Vincenzo Scamozzi in 1593. The decorative apparatus of this palatine chapel was created as regards the frescoes again by Jacopo Guarana, while as regards the architectural decorations by Gerolamo Mengozzi-Colonna and his son Agostino. On the altar stands out a beautiful sculptural group created by Jacopo Sansovino, depicting the Virgin with Putto and Angels.
The Hall of the Council of Ten was intended for the meeting of the
body of the same name, restricted and omnipotent, in charge of state
security. The Supreme Judiciary of the State, whose ruthless methods
have often been written about but not always impartially, was
established in 1319 as a temporary body to be entrusted with
investigations relating to the Baiamonte Tiepolo conspiracy, but then
became a permanent judiciary, made up of ten councilors and extended to
the Doge and the six Ducal Councilors; the Council of Ten took place on
a semicircular wooden podium from which they discussed the
investigations and trials against the enemies of the state: a secret
passage housed in a wooden wardrobe led to the back room of the Tre
Capi.
Nothing remains of the original furniture. The decorations
are by Giambattista Ponchino, Paolo Veronese and Giovanni Battista
Zelotti, with themes concerning justice. The ceiling of the room,
imaginatively attributed to Daniele Barbaro, was painted in the fifties
of the sixteenth century and is Paolo Veronese's debut work on the
Venetian scene. More precisely, Veronese is the author of three of the
canvases currently present among the nine that make up the ceiling. It
was painted by the twenty-six-year-old painter, who came from Verona as
an assistant to the little-known Gian Battista Ponchino, by Zelotti and
Jacopo D'Andrea. The oval in the center, with Jupiter striking down
vices, is a copy of Veronese's original confiscated by Napoleon and now
exhibited in the Louvre. On the other hand, also by Veronese, the panel
with Juno offering the ducal horn, gems and gold in Venice, with a
daring perspective foreshortening, was returned. Under the ceiling there
is a valuable frieze depicting Putti, weapons and trophies. The walls
below these decorations were made by Andrea Vassilachi, Bassano and
Marco Vecellio. The painting Venice on the globe and the lion, painted
between 1553 and 1564, is one of the allegories in the room: a work by
Zelotti, it shows how the latter's paintings, although comparable in
light and color to those of Veronese, differed from the latter's works
in that the latter appear less cumbersome and more natural.
Next to this room was the Sala della Bussola, which served as an
antechamber for those who had been summoned by the powerful judiciary,
which owes its name to the large wooden compass that leads to the
adjacent judicial rooms and is surmounted by a statue of Justice. Its
allegorical decoration was completed in 1554 by Paolo Veronese. Also in
this room, the painting in the center of the ceiling, a masterpiece by
Paolo Veronese depicting Saint Mark, was removed by the French in 1797
and is kept in the Louvre. The monumental fireplace is designed by
Sansovino, while the paintings on the walls celebrate the victories of
Carmagnola. The walls are characterized by the presence of wooden
panels.
Other judicial environments on the second noble floor
From the compass present in the room of which it is eponymous passed
those who were summoned to the nearby judicial environments.
The
Room of the Three Leaders of the Council of Ten, with works by
Tintoretto, Veronese, Giambattista Ponchino and Giambattista Zelotti,
where the leaders elected by rotation each month from this council, who
were responsible for the instruction of the processes, met. Theirs was
the task of opening the letters and convening the extraordinary meetings
of the Great Council; The ceiling decoration was carried out between
1553 and 1554: a notable element is the central octagon depicting the
Victory of Virtue over Vice, by Zelotti. Veronese and Ponchino dedicated
themselves mostly to decorating the lateral sectors. From this room you
can access the Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci through a secret passage
hidden by a wooden wardrobe.
The Room of the Three State Inquisitors,
with paintings by Tintoretto made between 1566 and 1567, where the
powerful and feared magistrates were located, in charge of guaranteeing
the security of the Secret by any means and at their complete
discretion, chosen from among the Council of Ten and the Doge's
advisers. This judiciary was created in 1539 and became known as it was
authorized to learn information by any means, including denunciation and
torture.
The Chamber of Torment, a torture chamber directly connected
to the overlying Piombi, where the interrogations were conducted in the
presence of the judging magistrates. However, torture began to be
abandoned in the 17th century.
The palace armoury, a complex of rooms intended as a warehouse for
the palace armigers, was made up of four rooms and housed around 2,000
prestigious pieces. It acts as a corner between the facade towards the
Rio di Palazzo and the one on the Molo.
Room I or Sala del
Gattamelata: takes this name from the very fine armor owned by
Gattamelata, nickname of Erasmo da Narni. In this room other
sixteenth-century armours are also exhibited, some for foot soldiers,
others for knights and still others for tournaments. In particular, we
note a child's armor or perhaps a dwarf's, found after the battle of
Marignano. Bows, crossbows and ship's lanterns of Turkish origin are
also exhibited in the room.
Room II or Room of the King of France:
characterized by the presence of a Turkish standard, loot from the
battle of Lepanto and finely decorated, the room also has armor that
belonged to Henry IV of France, donated to the Serenissima either in
1603 or 1604, a horse head armour, broadswords, decorated halberds. The
royal armor is placed inside a niche which was designed by Vincenzo
Scamozzi.
Room III or Sala Francesco Morosini as dedicated to the
latter by the Council of Ten: it is characterized by the presence of a
bronze bust of the latter, placed in a niche. Swords, halberds, quivers,
crossbows, a decorated culverin dating back to the 16th century and a
twenty-barreled arquebus dating back to the 17th century are also
preserved in the room.
Room IV: characterized by the presence of
numerous mixed weapons, crossbows from the 16th century, firearm maces,
hatchets, fire swords, arquebuses are preserved here. There is also the
devil's box, able to hide inside four pistol barrels and a poisoned
arrow. There are also numerous instruments of torture, flanked by a
chastity belt and some weapons that belonged to the Carrara family,
originally from Padua but defeated in 1405 by the Venetians.
From the Atrium Square you enter the rooms dedicated to the administration and bureaucracy of the palace, with the room of the Ducal Notary, secretary of the various magistracies of the State, and that of the Deputy to the Secretariat of the Council of Ten, private secretary of the powerful council. These two small rooms can also be reached by going up a ladder that connects them to the Pozzi. On the mezzanine above were the offices of the Chancellor Grande and of the regent of the Chancellery, head of the archives, directly elected by the Great Council, with the adjacent Sala della Cancelleria Segreta, in which the most important administrative documents were kept in numerous cabinets: on the upper doors, mirrored, stand out the coats of arms and the names of the chancellors who have succeeded since 1268.
The underground prisons of the Palazzo, located below the water level
and therefore extremely humid and unhealthy, intended for prisoners of
inferior conditions, locked up in dark and cramped cells, took the
unequivocal name of Pozzi. The Wells, small and damp rooms, were
illuminated by oil lamps, ventilated thanks to round holes dug into the
stone and locked by doors closed with heavy bolts. Each cell had a
wooden litter box, a shelf for personal belongings and a wooden bucket.
Legend has it that once upon a time those sentenced to death were
allowed, as a last chance for escape, to attempt the tour of the column.
In fact, one of the columns of the Doge's Palace is still slightly
larger than the others. The attempt consisted in going around the
column, from the outside, without slipping but hardly anyone was able to
complete the operation. The desperation of the prisoners locked up there
can be guessed from the tenor of the writings found on the walls.
Below the roof of the building and its coverings were instead the
Piombi, directly connected to the Torture Room, which owe their name to
the roof covering, made with leaden slabs: here the most particular
prisoners found their place (Giacomo Casanova the best known , and
author of a spectacular escape), nobles, rich, religious, who were
therefore relegated to an environment which, however harsh, was less
unhealthy than the infernal Pozzi.
The attic was divided into six
or seven rooms separated by wooden partitions strengthened with nails
and iron plates. The prisoners who were detained here could even, at
their own expense, provide for their cells to be equipped with small
reliefs, furniture and good food. In particular, members of the Council
of Ten were detained there in case they were accused of political crimes
or were awaiting trial. By visiting this area, you can also access the
adjacent and very large attic, distinguished by the unique wooden
trusses, which now houses a collection of weapons of both Venetian and
Ottoman origin. All these prisons were directly connected to the courts
present in the Palace.
The Doge's Palace in Venice preserves in its rooms and along its
facades an impressive number of works of art, dating back to various
historical periods, commissioned by individual doges to hand down their
memory or in the context of general renovations of the complex. The
decorative apparatus had mainly celebratory functions regarding the
history of the Serenissima Republic of Venice, whose highest
magistracies had their headquarters here: therefore there are numerous
allegories, the paintings depicting battles and historical events, the
tables depicting devotional gestures towards saints and the Virgin.
Many works were lost during the various fires that struck the
building, the main ones dating back to 1483, 1574 and 1577.