40 elisabeth crouzet-pavan
of Santa Marta. Work sites were established, the most imposing of which
would finally change the course of the river. Still, it only moved the threat
of sedimentation to the southern lagoons, giving rise to new fears and
questions.
During these decades of the 15th century, changes can be observed.
The lagoon environment had always been described as a positive space, a
sort of protective “cocoon.” For centuries, the history of Venice was being
built and had been established as a hallmark of vitality, a dynamism
demonstrated by the facts and by the repetition of these views. Despite
the technical difficulties, potential failure, and the cost of the work, the
texts reflected a sense of optimism. However, during the 15th century this
seems to waver. The land had become, since the move to the Rialto, the
conqueror, and the water had become a threat. The vocabulary changes,
and Venice is described as being confronted by the perilous water, endan-
gering the environment built at its heart. The history is hereafter that
of a living space, providentially built by men but assaulted by a deadly
force against which daily labor was necessary. One by one, the rhetorical
mechanisms of a city in danger are put into place. In a sign that accu-
rately reflects the progress of thought on hydraulic matters and a growing
sensitivity to the problems of the site, the first treatise on the lagoon is
written in the second half of the century.42 It emanated from the elite
who had taken over the offices constituting the new bureaucracy of the
Venetian state. The author, Marco Corner, who was for a time in charge
of the wood supply, first led an inspection tour of the northern basin of
the lagoon, where the rivers brought loads of wood. Then, twice elected
as an expert on the waters, it fell to him to oversee the major project that
had just been launched, the diversion of the Brenta.43 This nobleman then
wrote the history of the lagoon and offered a systematic program of water
diversion because, according to his analysis, the lagoons were seriously
threatened by the siltation of the rivers.44 This text, one can argue, was a
call to arms. An examination of the public records paints a bleak picture.
42 Marco Cornaro, Scritture sulla laguna, ed. G. Pavanello, Antichi scrittori d’idraulica
veneta, 1 (Venice, 1919).
43 G. Gullino, “Corner, Marco,” in Dizionario biografico degli italiani, vol. 29 (Rome,
1983), pp. 254–55.
44 After Corner, Paolo Sabbadino at the end of the 15th century also suggested a pro-
gram of the radical diversion of the rivers, but it is the discourses on the lagoon made by
his son, Cristoforo, which constitute the best example of an accomplished reflection on the
problems of the lagoon basin: Cristoforo Sabbadino, Discorsi sopra la laguna, ed. R. Cessi
(Venice, 1930).