The Architectural History of Venice

372 Pages·2004·34.699 MB·English

by  Deborah Howard

THE
ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF
VENICE
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THE ARCHITECTURAL
HISTORY OF VENICE
Revisedand enlarged edition
Deborah Howard
This book is the indispensable guide to the history
of architecture in Venice, encompassing the city's
fascinating variety of buildings from ancient times
to the present day. Completely updated, this edition
of Deborah Howard's classic volume (first
published in 1980) is filled with splendid illustra-
tions, most of them new and many reproduced in
full colour. Howard writes in a highly accessible
style, inviting those who visit Venice in person,
armchair travellers, and all students of Venetian art
and architecture to look more closely at the unique
architecture of one of the world's most beautiful
Believed to have been founded by refugees at the
fall of the Roman Empire, Venice became a semi-
independent outpost of Byzantium and eventually
an independent Republic. The city flourished for
centuries as a trading centre between east and we:
and its visual traditions were continually enriched
by the exposure to outside influences. When the
long-lasting Republic fell to Napoleon in 1797,
many attempts at modernization followed,
especially under nineteenth-century Austrian
administration. Howard traces the entire evolution
of Venice's architecture, placing special emphasis
on the political, social and economic framework
that supported it. She highlights the achievements
of individual architects from the Renaissance
onwards, including Sansovino, Palladio, Longhena,
Massari, Selva and others. Throughout the book,
the author stresses the visual qualities of the
buildings themselves, enhancing our appreciation
of individual structures built in Venice and
providing a spectacular view of the city that

The Architectural History
of Venice
Published with the assistance of
THE GETTY GRANT PROGRAM

Deborah Howard
The
Architectural History
of Venice
Revised and enlarged edition
with
new photographs
by Sarah Quill and Deborah Howard
Yale University Press
New Haven & London
This book is for
Malcolm Longair
Originally published by B. T. Batsford Ltd 1980
This edition copyright © 2002 by Deborah Howard
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part,
in any form (beyond that copying permitted by
Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law
and except by reviewers for the public press),
without written permission from the publishers.
Designed by Gillian Malpass
Printed in Singapore
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Howard, Deborah.
The architectural history ofVenice/Deborah Howard. - Rev. and
enlarged ed. with new photographs / by Sarah Quill.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-300-09029-3
1. Architecture - Italy - Venice - History. I. Quill, Sarah. II. Title.
NA1121.V4 H68 2002
720/.945'3i - dc2i 2002001019
A catalogue record for this book is available from The British Library
Frontispiece Library of St Mark, south-east corner, with the Zecca (Mint)
on the left and the column of St Theodore on the right
1
Contents
Preface to the Revised and Enlarged Edition ix
Preface to the First Edition xi
Glossary of Architectural Terms and Venetian
Words xiii
i Introduction i
The Origins ofthe City 2
2 Byzantine 7
Byzantine Religious Architecture on the Islands
ofTorcello and Murano 8
Byzantine Religious Architecture in Venice Itself 14
Byzantine Domestic Architecture 28
Veneto-Byzantine Palaces 3
Thirteenth-century Transformations 38
3 The Medieval City 43
Venice as an Urban Environment 43
Building Materials and Techniques 56
Essential Services and Other Amenities 65
4 Gothic 73
Gothic Ecclesiastical Architecture: The Mendicant
Orders 75
Some Smaller Gothic Churches 86
Gothic Secular Architecture 89
The Palazzo Ducale 90
CONTENTS
The Interior Planning of Venetian Gothic Palaces 96
Stylistic Transformations 98
The First Gothic Palaces 99
Gothic Palaces in the Fourteenth Century 100
Fifteenth-century Gothic Palaces 103
The Venetian Scuole no
5 Early Renaissance 117
The Beginnings ofthe Renaissance in Venetian
Architecture 120
Religious Architecture in Early Renaissance
Venice 128
Mauro Codussi 132
Architecture during the Wars ofthe League of
Cambrai 149
6 'Roman' Renaissance 161
Sebastiano Serlio 162
Sansovino and Sanmicheli 164
Andrea Palladio 190
7 Baroque 209
The Beginnings ofthe Venetian Baroque 209
Baldassare Longhena 213
Giuseppe Sardi 228
8 Palladianism and Neo-classicism 235
Domenico Rossi and Andrea Tirali 237
Giovanni Scalfarotto and Giorgio Massari 242
Antonio Visentini and Tommaso Temanza 250
Giannantonio Selva 254
9 Venice since the Fall of the Republic 261
The Napoleonic Kingdom (1805-1814) 262
The Second and Third Periods ofAustrian Rule
(1814-1848 and 1849-1866) 267
Venice as Part ofItaly: 1866 to the First
World War 273