Venice: Palazzo Ducale

It is simply impossible to visit Venice and skip the Palazzo Ducale. The British popular historian John Julius Norwich, an authority on the history of the Serenissima, rightly called the Doge’s Palace “the greatest secular Gothic building in the world”.[1] The Gothic pointed arches of Istrian stone, the elegant colonnades and the soft pink Verona marble of the façade all invite us to come in. Once inside, the visitor is treated to beautiful rooms full of works by famous artists such as Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese. The view from the windows of the Venetian lagoon and the island with the church of San Giorgio Maggiore are magnificent as well. Venice has had a Doge’s Palace almost as long as it had a doge. The history of the Palazzo Ducale goes back to the early ninth century. It is a turbulent history, with alternating highlights and disasters. The story of the Palazzo Ducale is therefore a story worth telling in detail.

Early history

The first generally recognised doge of Venice is a man called Orso or Ursus, who took up office in 726. The name means ‘bear’, and this Orso came from Heraclea on the mainland (now Eraclea Mare). This was, after all, the time when the Venetians were still scattered across the lagoon (see Torcello: Santa Maria Assunta). Settlement in the Rialto archipelago – now the nucleus of Venice – did not start in earnest until the early ninth century. Orso was granted the title of dux, which means “commander” in Latin and is the root of the English word duke. In the Venetian dialect the dux quickly became the doge. Orso would be succeeded by another 117 doges, until in 1797 the last doge, Ludovico Manin, laid down his office under severe pressure from Napoleon Bonaparte and the Venetian Republic was dissolved. Venice was, by the way, not the only city governed by a doge: her arch-rival Genoa had one too.

The first Doge’s Palace on the current spot was built during the reign of Agnello Participazio, who wore the corno ducale between 811 and 827. This first Doge’s Palace was actually not a palace. It was basically a highly defensible fortress, with towers and drawbridges. This fortress proved to be very useful when in 976 a revolt broke out against the unpopular doge Pietro IV Candiano. A furious mob stormed the Doge’s Palace but the attack was thwarted by the doge’s guards. The insurgents then set fire to the surrounding buildings. Some 300 of these were lost, and so were the Doge’s Palace itself and the first version of the basilica of San Marco. Pietro Candiano tried to flee, but was apprehended and killed. Under his successor Pietro I Orseolo the city and Doge’s Palace were rebuilt. The new doge deserves a lot of credit for this, but in a strange twist of fate he decided to step down in 978 and become a monk. In 1731 he became the only doge in the history of Venice to be canonised.

The Doge’s Palace was remodelled in the twelfth century, during the reign of Doge Sebastiano Ziani (1172-1178), possibly still in the Byzantine style. Ziani has become especially famous for having the Piazza San Marco paved and ordering the creation of the Piazzetta on the west side of the Palazzo Ducale. His reign also saw the creation of the Maggior Consiglio or Great Council, which will be discussed in greater detail below. This Council too had its quarters in the Doge’s Palace, but about a century after its creation these turned out to be too small. What followed was an extension of the building on the east and southeast sides.

Later history

Starting in 1341, the Palazzo Ducale was rebuilt in the Gothic style. The first architect was a certain Pietro Baseggio (died ca. 1354). He was long dead when the building activities were finally completed more than eighty years later. The new meeting hall of the Maggior Consiglio was decorated with frescoes by the painter Guariento di Arpo (1310-1370). Between 1365 and 1367 Guariento and his assistants painted scenes on the walls about the Coronation of the Virgin in Heaven. Nevertheless, it was not until 1423 that the Maggior Consiglio took up residence in its new hall. This was after in 1404 work on the south side of the Doge’s Palace, opposite the Molo and the Riva degli Schiavoni, had been completed, and in 1423 on the west side, opposite the aforementioned Piazzetta San Marco.[2] In 1425 the new Palazzo Ducale, initiated by Pietro Baseggio eight decades previously, was finally complete.

The decades that followed were all about embellishing the palace. The reign of Francesco Foscari (1423-1457) for instance saw the construction of the beautiful gateway that is known as the Porta della Carta. Bartolomeo Bon (died after 1464) and others[3] were responsible for the skilfully sculpted decorations, including a relief that features the doge himself. Francesco Foscari – the longest-reigning doge in history who upon his death was granted a beautiful tomb in the church of the Frari – has been depicted kneeling with the corno ducale on his head and a sceptre in his hands. Facing him is the winged lion of Saint Mark, the symbol of Venice. The animal has its front leg on an opened book with the famous words PAX TIBI MARCE EVANGELISTA MEUS – “Peace to you, Mark, my evangelist”. Of the original relief from 1438-1442 unfortunately only the head of the doge has survived. In a fit of barbarism, French troops that occupied Venice in 1797 dashed the original work to pieces. What we see today is a copy from the late nineteenth century.

The Gothic Doge’s Palace was struck by disaster on 14 September 1483, when a large fire destroyed a significant part of the eastern flank (along the Rio del Palazzo). The architect Antonio Rizzo (1430-1499) was commissioned for the restoration work, and in the process he also built the monumental staircase in the courtyard of the Palazzo Ducale. This Scala dei Giganti was henceforth used for the inauguration of new doges, who received their corno in the colonnade at the top. The first doge to be inaugurated in this way was Marco Barbarigo (1485-1486) in 1485. Later, in 1567, Jacopo Sansovino (1486-1570) added the statues of Mars and Neptune to the staircase, symbols of Venetian maritime power. This Sansovino was also responsible for the staircase in the Doge’s Palace itself, the Scala d’Oro or Golden Stairs from 1538-1559.[4] Unfortunately for Antonio Rizzo, the story of his work on the Doge’s Palace did not end well, as in 1498 he was accused of embezzlement of state funds. Whether there was any truth in the allegations or not, the architect was forced to flee. It was his successor Pietro Lombardo (ca. 1435-1515) who completed the restoration work.

After several decades of peace, disaster struck again on 20 December 1577. Another large fire in the Doge’s Palace destroyed the Sala del Maggior Consiglio and Sala dello Scrutinio (i.e. the room where the Council held its votes). Guariento’s frescoes were lost as well, although remnants of them can still be seen in the present Palazzo Ducale. The Venetians were now at a crossroads. Should they demolish the Doge’s Palace and build a new one from scratch in Renaissance style? This was in any case the position of the famous architect Andrea Palladio (1508-1580). But Palladio did not get what he wanted. In just eight months, the Sala del Maggior Consiglio and Sala dello Scrutinio were restored. During the restoration the windows of the halls were placed slightly higher in the walls, an intervention that is still visible on the outside of the Palazzo Ducale. If you stand south of the Doge’s Palace and admire the façade, you will note that the two windows on the right and the window with the balcony are lower than the windows on the left. At the end of the 1580s an already rather elderly Jacopo Robusti (1518-1594), nicknamed Tintoretto, started the decoration of the hall of the Great Council. His principal assistant was his son Domenico (1560-1635). For the back wall of the hall they made an enormous painting, featuring Paradise and measuring 7.45 by 24.65 metres.

The Venetian constitution

The doge was the head of state of the Venetian Republic. As the office existed for over one thousand years and was frequently subject to changes, it is not easy to say which duties and powers the doge had exactly. In any case, the first doges were – in line with the origins of their office as dux – commander of the army and fleet. This was not without risk. In 887 Doge Pietro I Candiano was for instance killed in battle against Dalmatian pirates, while Doge Ordelafo Falier lost his life in 1117 while fighting the Hungarians at Zara (modern Zadar in Croatia). As regards the other duties and powers, there was a risk during the first centuries of the Republic that the doge would become an absolute ruler, who decided about his own succession. The only check against his power was basically the popular assembly or arengo. However, in 1032, during the reign of Domenico Flabanico, a process was started aimed at creating a complex system of checks and balances. The main idea was to prevent the accumulation of too much power in a single office (although sceptics argued that it also prevented effective decision-making). The main consequence of the process was that the power of the doge was gradually curbed, while that of other bodies grew. Nevertheless, the doge remained an authoritative figure, if only because he could usually boast of a long and distinguished political career. Unlike the members of the other Venetian bodies, he was moreover elected for life.

The most important of these other bodies was, without a doubt, the Maggior Consiglio. I think a brief explanation of the creation of this Great Council is in order. In 1171 a conflict had erupted between Venice and Manuel I Komnenos (1143-1180), emperor of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire. Several thousands of Venetian merchants were active in the Byzantine capital of Constantinople, and they were very successful. The emperor Manuel had them arrested and confiscated their property. The Serenissima was furious and swore revenge. It launched a punitive expedition led by Doge Vitale II Michiel, but this failed miserably because of an outbreak of plague on the Venetian ships. To add insult to injury, upon his return to Venice Vitale Michiel was murdered. Under his successor Sebastiano Ziani constitutional reforms were then enacted. Although the arengo was not formally abolished, it was in effect replaced by the Maggior Consiglio. Venice had by now been divided into six neighbourhoods or sestieri, which were (and are) Castello, Cannareggio, Dorsoduro, Santa Croce, San Polo and San Marco. Representatives of the sestieri elected the members of the Maggior Consiglio, who in their turn elected the representatives of the sestieri. It was a system that led to a closed oligarchy. In 1293-1297 access to the Great Council, already severely limited, was restricted further by tightening the requirements for membership. The process was known as the serrata (closing) of the Maggior Consiglio.

The Maggior Consiglio initially had 480 members, most of whom were from illustrious Venetian families. This number grew over the course of the centuries to more than 1,200 in the late thirteenth century, at least 1,500 in the fifteenth century and over 2,000 in the final centuries of the Republic.[5] The Great Council had taken over the election of the doges from the arengo. Although it remained part of the Venetian constitution, a law passed in 1413 prohibited doges from convening the arengo, so it basically survived as a body that existed on paper only. In 1268 an extremely complicated procedure for the election of a new doge had been laid down, which saw members of the Maggior Consiglio electing other members in many rounds until there was a new doge. In practice the Maggior Consiglio stuck to holding elections, being too large and cumbersome for many other tasks. Therefore in 1229 a Senate or Consiglio dei Pregadi had been set up, which had a membership of 120. It was much more suited to the legislative task, if only because of its size. The doge was moreover assisted by a Collegio, a kind of council of ministers consisting of Savii or “wise men”, elected by the Maggior Consiglio. Lastly, the actions of the doge were scrutinised by six supervisors, the members of the Signoria or Minor Consiglio.

One body is still missing from this list, and that is the powerful Consiglio dei Dieci or Council of Ten. In 1310 a certain Bajamonte Tiepolo had conspired with Marco Querini to stage a coup d’état in Venice. The coup had ended in failure, and in response on 10 July 1310 the Council of Ten had been set up. In 1334 it was made a permanent body. On the one hand it acted as a secret police with a duty to watch over the security of the state but on the other it was a kind of executive committee, to relieve the pressure on the Great Council. In practice, by the way, the Council of Ten comprised seventeen members, as the doge and the six members of the Minor Consiglio were also part of it.

The members of the Council were not reticent to act against doges as well. In 1355 there was a failed coup by the very elderly Doge Marin Falier, an octogenarian. The Council had the doge and his supporters arrested, and on 17 April 1355 Marin Falier was decapitated in the courtyard of the Doge’s Palace. Ten years later Guariento di Arpo nevertheless included the portrait of this doge in the series of portraits that he painted on the walls of the hall of the Maggior Consiglio. In 1366, however, a decree was passed that stipulated that the portrait was to be overpainted with a piece of black cloth and the Latin text HIC EST LOCVS MARINI FALETRO, DECAPITATI PRO CRIMINIBVS (“this is the spot of Marin Falier, decapitated for his crimes”). After the fire of 1577 new portraits of the doges were painted on the walls, and once again all Marin Falier got was a piece of black cloth. One juicy detail that I want to share with my readers is that one of the doge’s accomplices was a certain Filippo Calendario. He was at the time the architect of the Doge’s Palace, one of Pietro Baseggio’s successors. Ultimately he shared Marin Falier’s fate.

Rooms and art in the Palazzo Ducale

Visitors of the Doge’s Palace may stroll through the doge’s quarters and the halls that were used by the Collegio, Senate, Council of Ten and Maggior Consiglio. On the walls of the latter hall we find 76 portraits of doges, Marin Falier’s black cloth included. In the adjacent Sala dello Scrutinio the remaining 42 doges have been painted. Both halls have large paintings on the walls featuring important events from the history of Venice. These are mainly naval battles and sieges. We for instance see the fictional naval battle of Punta Salvore (in 1177; see this post), the siege of Zara (in 1202, during the Fourth Crusade) and the battle of Lepanto (in 1571, against the Turks). The painters involved were, among others, Tintoretto, his son Domenico and Andrea Vicentino (ca. 1542-1618). One special object in the Sala dello Scrutinio is the triumphal arch that was erected in honour of Francesco Morosini. He served as Doge of Venice between 1688 and 1694, but before that he had been commander of a Venetian fleet that had achieved great successes against the Turks in the Morea in Greece. A severe stain on his reputation was, unfortunately, that during the siege of Athens, on 26 September 1687, the Parthenon had been blown to pieces. The Turks had used the building to store gunpowder, which exploded when the Parthenon was hit by a Venetian mortar shell.

From an artistic point of view, the portraits of the doges in the Sala del Maggior Consiglio and Sala dello Scrutinio are fairly mediocre. Of much greater interest are the portraits of various doges that we find in other works. The Atrio Quadrato, between the halls of the Senate and Council of Ten, for instance has a nice work by Tintoretto featuring Girolamo Priuli, doge between 1559 and 1567. The doge is handed a sword and scales by Lady Justice. A woman who personifies Venice and Saint Mark the Evangelist act as witnesses. For the adjacent Sala delle Quattro Porte the great Venetian master Titian (ca. 1488-1576) painted Doge Antonio Grimani, who wore the corno ducale between 1521 and 1523. The doge is kneeling before the personification of Faith, with once again Saint Mark looking on. The painting was commissioned from Titian as late as 1555, over thirty years after Grimani’s death. Upon Titian’s death in 1576 it was still in his studio, therefore surviving the great fire of 1577. A special detail is that Titian was assisted by his nephew Marco Vecellio (1545-1611) while he worked on the painting.

The Doge’s Palace also had cells to lock up prisoners. Apparently there were so many of these that between 1556 and 1595 the New Cells (Prigioni Nuove) were built on the other side of the Rio del Palazzo. These were connected to the Palazzo Ducale by the Ponte dei Sospiri, the famous Bridge of Sighs. This bridge was designed by the architect Antonio Contin (1566-1600) and is one of the very few Baroque elements of the Doge’s Palace. According to tradition the name of the bridge derives from the sighs of the prisoners who were led to the cells or the execution site and were allowed a final glance of beautiful Venice through the peepholes of the bridge. To be honest, I found the whole story unconvincing. All I saw myself were hordes of tourists on the Ponte della Paglia.

A vital source for this post was John Julius Norwich, ‘A History of Venice’. Three travel guides – Trotter, Dorling Kindersley and Royal Dutch Touring Club (ANWB) – provided additional information.

Notes

[1] A History of Venice (2012), p. 281.

[2] The balcony on this side, by the way, dates from 1536. The doge with the lion above the balcony is Andrea Gritti, doge between 1523 and 1538.

[3] One of them was probably Giorgio di Matteo, also known as Giorgio Orsini da Sebenico (ca. 1410-1475). He was also active in Ancona.

[4] Alessandro Vittoria (1525-1608) was responsible for the gilded stucco of the staircase, which explains its name.

[5] It was the Maggior Consiglio that abolished the Venetian Republic in 1797.