844 massimo favilla, ruggero rugolo, and dulcia meijers
instance, the architecture and painted decorations of the church of the
Gesuati at the Zattere.86
Stucco work, a very specific segment of sculpture, often framed opu-
lently the large-scale decorations.87 the outstanding master in this métier
was abbondio Stazio, originally from ticino.88 in Palazzo albrizzi, the
sculptor had the paintings of the ceiling and walls of the portego, executed
on canvas, encircled with lavish scrolls and putti that appear to keep
the cornice in place. this elaborate sculptural decoration was executed
around the turn of the century. another eloquent example forms Palazzo
Barbaro-ex-Curtis.89 But stucco work could, in and of itself, beautify a
place. this was spectacularly done by the same Stazio in Palazzo Sagredo.
the family had rooms of their more intimate mezzanine redecorated in
1718 after a fire.90 assisted by his pupil, Carpoforo Mazzetti tencalla, the
artist created for various rooms an ensemble of polychrome stucco that
features exotic animals rendered practically life-size, along with birds, tro-
phies, and arabesques. a brightly colored greenish-blue cloth is draped all
around, playfully overlapping here and there the cornice of the ceiling;
monkeys jump out from underneath, and panthers partially covered by it
sit like pets on top of the doorways (Fig. 22.10). the decorative and figura-
tive elements are treated in an extremely vigorous and plastic way and are
coated with a symphony of refined colors. With its polychrome it mimics
and emulates the effect of painted decoration; even stronger. it actually
outstrips illusionist painting because of its very three-dimensional nature.
Given the relatively small size of the rooms, this enchanting stucco deco-
ration has a very direct impact on the beholder.
Visions of the City
a great deal of the glamour and glory of the state as presented to foreign-
ers can be sensed in visual records that document traditional Venetian
86 anton ress, Giovanni Maria Morlaiter. Ein Venezianischer Bildhauer des 18. Jahrhun
derts (Munich, 1979).
87 Mario Fogliata and Maria Lucia Sartor, L’arte dello stucco: storie, technice, metodologie
della tradizione veneziana (treviso, 2004).
88 See in general for the presence of Swiss stuccadori in Venice, Giorgio Mollisi, ed.,
Svizzeri a Venezia nella storia nell’arte nella cultura nell’economia dalla metà del Quattro
cento ad oggi (Lugano, 2008).
89 Bernard aikema, “ ‘il famoso abondio’: abbondio Stazio e la decorazione a stucco
nei palazzo veneziani circa 1685–1750,” Saggi e Memorie di Storia dell’Arte 21, 1997 (1998),
85–122.
90 Signed and dated 1718. C. Mazza, I Sagredo: committenti e collezionisti d’arte nella
Venezia del Sei e Settecento (Venice, 2004). See also Favilla, Pedrocco, and rugolo, Venezia
Barocca, pp. 232–39, for the stunning pictures.