DOGE’S PALACE

Description

Essentials about the Doge’s Palace in brief

A visit to the Doge’s Palace (Palazzo Ducale) is definitely a must on a trip to Venice. Together with St. Mark’s Basilica next to it, the Doge’s Palace is undoubtedly the most important and famous building in Venice. The palace has been the seat of the Doge and the governing and judicial bodies of the Republic of Venice since the 9th century. In its function as a governmental and administrative center, the Doge’s Palace remains to this day an impressive symbol of the former greatness and power of the Maritime Republic of Venice. In addition, the palace is one of the most important secular buildings of the Gothic period and a splendor of Venetian architecture. The glamorous self-portrayal of the Venetian Republic can be seen in the sumptuous decoration of the interiors with stucco, gilded carvings, history paintings and allegories created by Venice’s most important artists.

The history of the Doge’s Palace

The Doge’s Fort

It is said that in 811 the Doge Agnello Particiaco moved his residence from Malamocco to Civitas Rivo Alto. What this first Venetian doge’s residence looked like and where exactly it was located is not certain. The Doge’s residence can be located with certainty only a little later. In the 9th century, the Doge Giustiniano Particiaco stipulated in his will that his wife Felizitas should have a church built for the bones of St. Mark next to the Doge’s house. Under his brother and successor Giustiniano Particiaco, Doge Giovanni I Particiaco, the works were started and completed around the year 836. Since then, the square with St. Mark’s Church and the Doge’s residence has been considered the political-religious center of the lagoon.

There are no historical documents or images of what these first buildings looked like. In ancient writings, the Doge’s Residence is usually mentioned only in passing in the sense of a location. During the revolt of 976 against Doge Pietro IV Candiano, the residence and the predecessor building of St. Mark’s Church fell victim to a fire.

The Palace of Sebastiano Ziano

A first Doge’s Palace, worthy of the name, was built during the reign of Doge Sebastiano Ziani at the end of the 12th century. The building had three wings that surrounded an inner courtyard. The east wing, directly connected to the then Palace Chapel, housed the Doge’s rooms, the Palace of Justice bordered the current Piazzetta, and the south wing facing the Bacino San Marco contained, among other things, the Assembly Hall where the Great Council met.

Due to an increase in the number of members of the Great Council from 400 to 1,200 within a few decades, an expansion of the meeting hall had to be considered. In the meantime, the meetings of the Council were held in the Venetian Arsenal due to lack of space. In 1296, the Quarantia, the Court of Justice that oversaw access rights to the Great Council during this period, proposed expanding the hall for the Great Council meeting. In 1340 it was finally decided to build a new meeting hall.

The Gothic Palace

From 1340, under the government of Doge Bartolomeo Gradenigo, the complete transformation of the palace began, to finally take on its present form. It began with the south wing on the Bacino. The design for the new building, the architect of which is not known for certain, was completed around 1343, when Andrea Dandolo ascended the Doges’ throne. According to a decision of 1344, the hall was to be moved to the second floor of the south wing. Because of the outbreak of the plague, the reconstruction dragged on until 1365, when it was finally completed with Guariento di Arpo’s crowning of the Virgin Mary on the front of the hall. From then on, the Great Council could again meet in the Doge’s Palace.

In 1404 the palace front to the Bacino was completed. Further additions and alterations were made during the long reign of Francesco Foscari. The Doge had the stables on the Piazzetta demolished and from 1424 the façade facing the Piazzetta was rebuilt according to the design of the south wing. The extension was continued exactly after the completed part, so that today it looks as if it was created from a single construction phase. With the construction of the Porta della Carta, begun in 1438, a representative entrance to the palace courtyard was created and at the same time, through the architectural connection to St. Mark’s Basilica, the close ideal and functional bond between the palace and the church was visualized as the palace chapel of the Doge.

In a third phase of construction, the new east wing was added with the facade facing the Rio di Palazzo, which had fallen victim to a fire in 1483.

Fires and reconstruction of the Doge’s Palace

In the 15th and 16th centuries, the Doge’s Palace was ravaged by devastating fires three times (1483, 1547 and 1577). The conservative trait of the Venetian Republic is reflected in the fact that the palace was rebuilt according to the old plans and “modern” building plans by architects such as Palladio or Giovan Antonio Rusconi were discarded. The facade was preserved or restored. The interior, on the other hand, was redesigned according to the changing tastes of the time.

The Doge’s Palace after the end of the Republic

After the end of the Venetian Republic, the French and Austrian domination and finally the takeover by the newly founded Italian state, the Doge’s Palace was the seat of various institutions and offices. From 1811 to 1904, the Biblioteca Marciana was housed there. Towards the end of the 19th century, the palace was in danger of becoming dilapidated. As a result, the Italian state ordered a complete restoration. On this occasion, 13 original columns with their capitals from the 13th century portico were replaced by copies and kept inside the palace. They formed the basis for the Museo dell’ Opera di Palazzo, which today is also housed in the Doge’s Palace.

The offices located in the palace, with the exception of the Soprarintendenza per i Beni Ambientali e Architettonici di Venezia e Laguna, which is still located there, were moved out and housed in other places. In 1923, the Italian State handed over the management of the complex to the City of Venice. The palace was subsequently opened to the public as a museum.

The architecture of the Doge’s Palace

The building complex

The Doge’s Palace appears today from the outside as a conglomerate of components realized from the mid-14th century to the mid-15th century. Between 1340 and 1400 the southern wing facing the Molo was built, and in 1404 the elaborate steno window was completed. Between 1424 and 1457 the wing facing Piazzetta was built and between 1438 and 1442 the Porta della Carta.

The east wing facing Rio del Palazzo had to be rebuilt after the fire of 1483, but was not finally completed until the early 17th century. Between 1563 and 1614, on the other side of the Rio del Palazzo, the construction of the new prisons took place, connected from 1603 by the Bridge of Sighs to the north wing and the courts located there.

All the components rest on foundations of tree trunks and Istrian stone, are built of bricks and, with the exception of a small part on the Rio del Palazzo, are entirely covered with marble and colored marble incrustations or formed by hewn Istrian stone and marble. The south and west fronts appear as three-story buildings, while the east wing shows up in four stories.

To the north, the complex directly borders St. Mark’s Basilica with an extension of 71 meters or 75.5 by 100 meters. To the east, the Bridge of Sighs connects the palace to the prison, while to the west, the Porta della Carta, which leads to the inner courtyard, connects the palace to St. Mark’s Basilica. The generous urban arrangement of St. Mark’s Basilica, Doge’s Palace, Piazza San Marco, Piazzetta, Logetta and Biblioteca, which is still impressive today, is the result of determined and far-sighted urban planning by the Venetian authorities, who knew how to create spaces for their Republic that functioned and were suitable for all sectors of public life.

Stiles

The architecture of the Doge’s Palace is unique in the history of Western architecture and is immediately recognizable even in those successor buildings that copy it. The construction method of Venetian Gothic differs significantly from that of northern Europe. In Venice, the unstable building ground alone limited the height aspirations of the northern European Gothic. In addition, almost all Gothic churches and secular buildings in Italy fundamentally lack the elevation of a French Gothic style.

The dominant Gothic forms are mixed with many orientalizing elements, such as the crenellated crown, inspired by the battlements of North African Mamluk mosques. The unusual pink and white diamond decoration of the upper floor is a Seljuk motif borrowed from eastern Turkey or Iran. Likewise, the ogee arches of the loggias probably have their models in Islamic art.

The preference for colorful architectural decoration and multicolored building materials has its roots in the lagoon city’s ancient ties to Byzantine art. It is a fundamental characteristic of Venetian architecture and characterizes the “fairy-tale” magic of the Doge’s Palace, to which generations of Venice travelers have succumbed.

The capitals of Filippo Calendario

The capitals of Filippo Calendario, the leading builder and sculptor of Venice in the 14th century, deserve special attention on the façade of the Doge’s Palace. This artistically outstanding personality has only been appreciated in recent research.

Perhaps Calendario’s most significant capital is located at the corner of the upper level and depicts the Fall of Adam and Eve and the Tree of Knowledge with the serpent. The finely carved facial features of these figures recur in numerous repetitions on the smaller capitals.

Another important capital at the corner of the Doge’s Palace (facing the Ponte della Paglia) shows The Drunkenness of Noah. Noah, depicted as an old man, appears to be staggering, spilling wine from a bowl. His son Shem covers his nakedness with a cloth and raises a hand protectively. Noah’s other son Ham seems pitiless and still draws attention to the embarrassing situation.

On the capitals of the lower row of columns there are representations as they were common on the facades of cathedrals and rulers’ buildings at that time, such as the months of the year with the corresponding works, signs of the zodiac, the seven liberal arts, scenes from the Old and New Testaments and from the history of the city.

The red columns

Attentive observers of the Doge’s Palace will not fail to notice that on the square side of the palace, on the first floor, two adjacent columns are clearly more reddish in color than the others. Between them the death sentences were pronounced. Accordingly, not far away, as a circular shape above a column, there is a symbolic representation of the administration of justice: Justice with the sword and the scroll between two lions, also a work of Filippo Calendario.

The Porta della Carta

The Porta della Carta (Paper Gate) is the passage to the Cortile, the inner courtyard of the Doge’s Palace. The portal closed the gap between St. Mark’s Basilica and the palace. There is no reliable source for the origin of the name, but there are various attempts to explain it. Thus, announcements of the government on official carte are said to have been posted at this place. According to another theory, the citizens of Venice could submit their petitions to the city government here.

The Porta della Carta was built and decorated between 1438 and 1442 by the Venetian master builders Giovanni and Bartolomeo Bon. It is typical of the conservative trait of Venice that the portal was executed almost entirely in the late Gothic forms, although in some areas it already takes on traits of Renaissance art. The large coffered entrance gate itself, with its antique-style framing, takes its cue from modern Florentine architecture. In contrast, the overall design of the gate, with the two buttresses crowned by pinnacles, flanking the portal, the wide lancet window decorated with tracery and the curved, pointed tympanum, is in the late Gothic style.

The rich sculptural decoration of the portal figuratively represents the self-image and political aspirations of the Republic. In the four niches of the buttresses, under delicate canopies decorated with bas-reliefs and floral ornaments, stand the cardinal virtues of bravery, temperance, prudence and love; ruling virtues that the Republic of Venice claimed for itself. The sculptures are by Antonio Bregno, a sculptor who worked on many important buildings in Venice.

The wide base of the following three-part tracery window sets the stage for the image of Doge Francesco Foscari kneeling in full regalia before the winged Lion of St. Mark. Here, every visitor to the palace and the Doge himself, who had to pass through the Porta della Carta twice during the many solemn processions of the Doge, are made aware that the Doge is only the servant of the Republic (embodied by the Lion of St. Mark) and not its ruler. Antique putti on both sides of the tracery window present the coat of arms of Foscari. Saint Mark appears in person as a bust in the tondo above the top of the tracery window, to demonstrate in this exposed place under whose protection the Republic stands. The gate is crowned by Justice with sword and scales, whose throne is modeled on Solomon’s lion throne, the embodiment of the wise and just judge. With the personification of Justice in this place, reference is made to the just and wise government of the Serenissima.

The representative effect of the gateway was once emphasized by a colored setting and rich gilding, of which only faint traces remain today.

The Arco Foscari

Towards the inner courtyard, the Porta della Carta is joined by the Arco Foscari. In terms of architectural history, the change from Gothic to Renaissance can be seen in the complex. The architects assumed in the research are Buon, Antonio Bregno and Antonio Rizzo. The six-bay corridor, covered with a groined vault, leads directly to the representative Scala dei Giganti, a politically important place for the state ceremony of enthronement of a newly elected doge.

The façade facing the Scala shows a triumphal arch architecture in the formal language of the Renaissance. The three-part façade is divided into two floors and finished with an octagonal stone roof. On the top of the roof there is the figure of St. Mark the Apostle, who with a gesture of blessing points to the opposite staircase, where the Doge is crowned. Until its destruction by French soldiers, a sculpture of Doge Cristoforo Moro on his knees in front of the Lion of St. Mark stood above the portal on the second floor. Under his reign the Arco had been completed. The arch of the basement is flanked by two sculptures of Rizzo, Adam and Eve, the originals of which are now in the Doge’s Palace. The side facing the courtyard was covered with marble and equipped with a clock in the 17th century.

The Scala dei Giganti

The Scala dei Giganti (Staircase of the Giants) is the last of the four staircases that led from the courtyard to the upper floor. It leads to the former rooms of the Doge. Above the entrance arch stands the Lion of St. Mark on two cantilevered consoles. It is flanked by the coat of arms of Agostino Barbarigo. Under his reign, the staircase was built from 1484 by the master builder Antonio Rizzo.

The Staircase of the Giants takes its name from two colossal sculptures representing the Roman gods Mars and Neptune. Mars, the god of war, and Neptune, the god of the sea, unmistakably point to Venice’s military strength. The sculptor Jacopo Sansovino created the sculptures in 1567.

The inner courtyard

The courtyard of the Doge’s Palace was freely accessible to the people of Venice. It was used for official acts, meetings, festivals and tournaments, and once a year there was a bullfight. Since 1485 the ceremonial of the Doge’s coronation took place here.

The courtyard has been paved since 1773 with slabs of trachyte and Istrian stone, which replaced the original brick floor. Below the pavement are the two large cisterns that served to supply water to the palace and the population. The two fountain basins were created in 1554 and 1559 by the bronze founders Alfonso Albergheti and Niccolò dei Conti and bear the coats of arms of the patrons Francesco Venier and Lorenzo Priuli. Several staircases lead to the different wings with the rooms of the Doge and the offices and courts that have their seat there.

The Senators’ Square

To the left of the main courtyard, next to the Scala dei Giganti, is the small Senators’ Square (Ccortile or Cortiletto dei Senatori), where they met before the sessions. From here, convenient staircases led directly to the senators’ offices.

The Cappella San Nicolò

In 1505 the architect Spavento was commissioned to build a chapel for the Doge. The small Church of San Nicolò rises in the corner of the courtyard. Spavento adapted the facade of the church to the already completed palace facade. The frieze decorated with garlands and tondi is seamlessly continued in the frieze of the palace. A delicate balustrade completes the facade and is also the railing of a small roof garden, which was accessible from the Doge’s apartment.

The interiors of the Doge’s Palace

General information about the interior design

All interiors in the Doge’s Palace have in common their similar shape and especially their many paintings. From the very beginning of the construction of the Doge’s Palace a lot of attention was paid to its artistic decoration. The upper part of the walls and the ceilings are decorated with immense splendor. Particularly worth seeing is the ornamental design of the frames under the ceiling, in which they often put pictures of the leading artists of Venice, which were primarily thematically concerned with the glorification of the city.

The Hall of the Great Council

The highlight among the rooms is undoubtedly The Hall of the Great Council (Sala del Maggior Consiglio). With a length of 54 meters, it is the largest room of the Doge’s Palace, with windows overlooking both the inner courtyard and the lagoon. With an area of 1,300 square meters, the Great Council Hall was probably for a long time the largest hall in the world without supporting pillars. Here gathered the approximately 1,000 nobles who were entitled to elect the Doge.

The full width of the back wall is taken up by Jacopo Tintoretto’s masterpiece The Paradise, painted between 1588 and 1594. It was commissioned after a fire in 1577 destroyed the previous paintings by Bellini, Carpaccio and Titian. It was begun by Paolo Veronese and, after his death, completed in four years of work by Tintoretto. At the time of its presentation, it was the largest painting in the world and is still considered the second largest oil painting in the world, covering an incredible 205 square meters. The 76 Doge paintings were painted by Jacobo Tintoretto’s son Domenico. The portrait, covered with a black cloth, commemorates Doge Marino Falier, who was beheaded for treason.

The Great Council, by the way, did not represent the original power of Venice. This was initially the general assembly of all free men. However, after the Venetian nobility gained more and more power, they made sure that since the 13th century the general assembly was no longer convened and in its place they established the Great Council as the central organ of power. The Council passed all laws and elected other constitutional bodies from among its members. Among other things, it determined the composition of the Council of 40 and the Senate, which proposed laws, held jurisdiction, and controlled commerce and finance. The Great Council also formed the Doge’s Council, which included one nobleman from each of Venice’s six boroughs, who, together with the three presidents of the Council of 40 and the Doge, formed the actual government of the Republic of Venice. These bodies had their special meeting rooms in the Doge’s Palace, which can be visited by visitors today.

The prisons of the Doge’s Palace

A prominent component of the Doge’s Palace, which is also of literary importance, is the prison. It is divided between two buildings, connected by the famous Bridge of Sighs. In the Doge’s Palace itself, there were some decidedly damp prison cells on the first floor, the infamous 19 pozzi (meaning “wells”), and further up, the six or seven piombi (meaning “lead chambers”), located just below the lead-covered roof. The cells located in the Doge’s Palace were exclusively for state prisoners and high traitors. For the usual execution of justice, there were separate prisons in the city area.