venetian architecture 755
TypologiesMore than that of any other Italian city, the architecture of Venice lends
itself to study by typology. During the last four centuries of the Republic,
building plans and typologies changed little, for the exorbitant cost of
new foundations discouraged radical changes in plan. At the same time,
social conventions, both private and public, remained far more constant
than in many other Italian cities, reducing the need for new spatial
arrangements. During the 20th century, the study of typology became a
favorite practice of Modernist architects and critics, who sought universal
themes based on the search for truth to function.45 Yet typology is not
an invention of Modernism. From antiquity onwards, treatise writers—
including Vitruvius, Alberti, Palladio, and Scamozzi—tended to organize
their chapters typologically. Similarly, Francesco Sansovino’s guide of 1581,
while arranging the religious buildings by geographical area, discussed
most of the other monuments according to their type.
The most distinctive typology in the townscape was the Venetian palace,
although in deference to republican values, only the palaces of the doge
and the patriarch were given the denomination of palazzo. Meanwhile,
the rest of the patrician homes—however magnificent—were known as
case [houses]. In 1549, a Welsh visitor admired the profusion of palaces
that lined the banks of the Grand Canal, remarking that “in Venice be
above 200 palaces able to lodge a king.”46 The façade of the palace defined
its public identity, striking a delicate balance between individuality and
conformity. It is now clear that the wealthiest cittadini occupied houses
that resembled those of rich members of the patrician class, while many
patricians lived in relatively impoverished circumstances.47 The constant
subdivision of family patrimony over the generations, combined with the
decline in overseas trade, whittled away the wealth of many Venetian
noble lines. During the last two centuries of the Republic, however, a num-
ber of rich new families were admitted to the officially “closed” nobility,
and their efforts to create a sense of lineage and assert their integration
stimulated some of the notable design innovations in the period. At the
same time, many formerly powerful clans witnessed the fragmentation of
45 Nikolaus Pevsner, A History of Building Types (London, 1976). Richard J. Goy, Venice:
The City and its Architecture (London, 1997) adopts a typological framework.
46 William Thomas, The History of Italy ( 1549 ), ed. G. B. Parks (Ithaca, 1965), p. 65.
47 Blake de Maria, Becoming Venetian: Immigrants and the Arts in Early Modern Venice
(New Haven/London, 2010).