art in venice, 1400–1600 793
by Antonio Lombardi, cast by Alessandro Leopardi), the fountains in the
court of the Doge’s Palace in 1556 and 1559 (by an anonymous member
of the founding dynasty of the Alberghetti and niccolo ii dei conti), and
finally the project planned in 1496, the Porta della carta of the Doge’s
Palace with ornate reliefs on doors of bronze. the Scuola Grande di
S. Marco, in contrast, could not realize its door project, while the seated
figure of tommaso rangone on the façade of S. Giuliano (1553) allows
viewers to experience rangone’s pride and ambition. the bronze busts of
the three heroes of Lepanto, created near the end of the 16th century by
tiziano Aspetti, formerly over the doors of the Sale d’Armi in the Doge’s
Palace, represented a special honor. Jacopo Sansovino’s remodeling of
the Presbytery of S. Marco with works of bronze was based on his own
models. two tribunes for singers with reliefs from the legend of St Mark,
the bronze sacristy door, bronze figures on a chancel, and inlaid wood
panelling of Sansovino’s own design yield a simultaneously self-confident
ensemble sensitively integrated into the medieval building.
important magistrates were active in having buildings constructed or
commissioning artworks. the Provveditori alla Zecca, the camerlenghi
(on the rialto), and, above all, the influential procurators made impor-
tant contributions to the polyphonic art policies of the republic. the
exceptional (for Venice) fountain by Danese cattaneo in the court of the
Zecca with its crowning figure of Apollo (today in the court of the Pesaro
Palace), the public officials dressed as saints by Bonifacio de’ Pitati, “il
Veronese” (1587–53), and tintoretto for the Palace dei camerlenghi and
the rich furnishings of the Palace of the Procurator (the Libreria) show the
leeway that was also possible in artistic decisions.
in the paintings in the Doge’s Palace, the republic turned inwards as
well as outwards. Already before the fire of 1577, paintings in the Hall of
the Great council reminded of the events that culminated in the Peace
of Venice (1177). At that time, according to the Venetian interpretation of
events, Doge Sebastiano Ziani had fought on the side of Pope Alexander iii
against emperor Barbarossa and had achieved a peace accord in Venice
which bestowed on the republic not only prestige and a reputation as a
third power alongside the emperor and the pope but also endowed her
with “quasi royal” insignia (the trionfi).
After the completion of the construction work on the east wing (1553),
the ceilings of the chambers of the council of ten were adorned with alle-
gorical representations by Giambattista Ponchino (c.1500–c.1570), Paolo
Veronese (1528–88), and Giambattista Zelotti (c.1526–78), the essential
messages of which, supposedly formulated by Daniele Barbaro, were part