432 david d’andrea
an indulgence for those who offered assistance in the building of the hos-
pital and care of the poor. Citing the devotional fervor of the Venetian
nobility, the pope encouraged support to the hospital for its pious and
charitable works.37 an anonymous french treatise (c.1500) on Venetian
government described the ample provisions for the poor provided by the
hospitals in Venice. the author also noted the new construction of the
hospital of Gesù Cristo di sant’antonio, which would be the most beauti-
ful in italy.38 in this treatise of government, the french author not only
observed the Venetian welfare policy for children, the sick, and the poor
but also compared these efforts to those in effect elsewhere in italy. to
political observers and visitors, keenly aware of how states managed pov-
erty, the hospital of Gesù Cristo epitomized the Venetian concern for
divine favor and the glory of the republic.
some observers, however, pointed out the inadequacy of the Vene-
tian system in comparison to other states. in 1497 duke Lodovico sforza
of Milan asked the Milanese ambassador to Venice, Battista sfondrato,
for a report on the charitable and religious institutions in Venice. the
mandate to sfondrato specifically requested a list of the charitable insti-
tutions comparable to the hospitals and confraternities established in
Milan. sfondrato began his report with the comment that Venice lacked a
large, central hospital like the one in Milan. although the construction of
a public hospital (Gesù Cristo at sant’antonio) had begun, several small
neighborhood hospitals cared for the sick. the most significant charitable
institutions were the scuole grandi, wealthy brotherhoods that cared for
their sick members. in addition to the large brotherhoods were the smaller
brotherhoods, mutual aid societies organized by parish, guild, or foreign
communities. although a multitude of various charitable organizations
provided for the needs of the city, ambassador sfondrato concluded that
the many hospitals were insufficient to provide for all of the city’s poor.39
37 the letter issued (22 July 1487) by Pope innocent Viii in favor of the hospital of Gesù
Cristo di sant’antonio can be found in david Chambers and Brian Pullan, eds., Venice:
A Documentary History, 1450–1630 (toronto, 2001), pp. 307–08.
38 extract from Description ou traictié du gouvernement ou régime de la cité et seigneurie
de Venise in Chambers and Pullan, Venice, pp. 302–03.
39 for an introduction to the document and the full text in the original language, see
reinhold Mueller, “a foreigner’s View of Poor relief in Late Quattrocento Venice,” in
Maurice aymard, ed., Pauvres et riches, Société et culture du Moyen Age aux temps mod-
ernes, Mélanges offerts à B. Geremek (Warsaw, 1992), pp. 55–63. a full english translation
by Mueller can be found in Chambers and Pullan, Venice, pp. 299–302.