introduction 17
terraferma but, rather, “conquests of a cultural character.” The objective
was to identify (imagine?) “the traces... the emergence and the affirma-
tion” over the centuries of a shared venetian cultural identity that charac-
terized and united the veneto region and the Dominante.46
The multiple, massive volumes of the series address a broad range of
topics including literature, historiography, music, language, travel, edu-
cation, theater, geography, science, medicine, technology, printing, and
mentalités. In a decision that elicited fierce criticism at the time, and
seems dubious in retrospect, the editors chose to ignore art entirely
because of the “exorbitant” scope of the field, and the “autonomy” of its
historiographical tradition.47 The series’ notion of culture is very much
in the traditional, high cultural vein: culture in an anthropological sense
makes no appearance, nor does any significant discussion of popular cul-
ture, despite the growing historiographical prominence of both in the
1970s and 1980s. Social history receives some minimal attention, though
primarily through the prism of important texts and figures. Religion is
only minimally treated in the context of the teaching of theology, and in
several chapters on the course of the reformation in the region, which
seem frankly out of place. Women and gender are entirely ignored, which
is not surprising given the arrested state of venetian gender history in
this period. One of the strengths of the series is its tight incorporation of
the terraferma into venetian history, a result of the burgeoning of stud-
ies on the mainland state. This is also one of the series’ weaknesses, as
venice’s extensive maritime empire, the stato da mar, is almost entirely
overlooked. Notwithstanding these shortcomings, the series was rightly
hailed as a major contribution, and its rich and inventive volumes remain
an influential source for scholars today.
The fondazione Cini, together with the Regione veneto, once again
provided the impetus and organizational focus for another massive, col-
laborative historical undertaking, the Storia di Venezia, coordinated by vit-
tore Branca, Gaetano Cozzi, Ugo Tucci, and Gino Benzoni and published
by the Istituto della enciclopedia italiana Treccani over the course of a
decade, from 1992 to 2002.48 The series comprises 14 large volumes and
more than 8000 pages: 11 volumes trace venice’s history from its origins
46 Girolamo Arnaldi and Manlio Pastore Stocchi, “Nota,” in Storia della cultura veneta,
vol. 6 (1986): Dall’età napoleonica alla prima guerra mondiale, p. xv.
47 Girolamo Arnoldi, “Idee per una introduzione,” in Storia della cultura veneta, vol. 1:
(1976): Dalle origini al Trecento, pp. xv–xvii.
48 Bertelli, “Appunti sulla storiografia italiana per l’età moderna,” p. 105.