Transcript THE MYTH OF VENICE

THE MYTH OF VENICE
THE STUDY DESIGN
On completion of this unit the student should be able to evaluate the
function and validity of the Myth of Venice.
This knowledge includes
• the components of the Myth of Venice such as: uniqueness, liberty,
prosperity, piety, political stability and social harmony;
• the development of the Myth of Venice from its unique location,
imperial expansion, sacred legends, constitutional arrangement and
social customs;
• the role of and means by which the Myth was used in developing
and maintaining a perception of
the city as La Serenissima;
• evidence which challenges the Myth of Venice, including political
challenges such as the Tiepolo
conspiracy, and the dogeships of Falier and Foscari.
We need to test the Myth
• How true were the claims the Venetians made
about their city ? validity
• Where were these claims evident ?
• Why did they make these claims ? Function
Components of the Myth
• It is important to get these right.
• Defined in the Study Design: uniqueness, liberty,
prosperity, piety, political stability and social
harmony;
• The Venetians claimed that Venice was unique
in terms of her location and her divine origins
Uniqueness and divine Origins
• Marin Sanudo says, “amidst the billowing waves
of the sea, stands on the crest of the main,
almost like a queen restraining its force. It is
situated in salt water and built there, because
before there were just lagoons, and then,
wanting to expand, firm ground was needed for
the building of palaces and houses… this city was
built more by divine than human will”.
•
The Lion of St Mark 1516
liberty
• The liberty that Renaissance writers refer to is
the ‘liberty to participate in government’
(Carter)
• They saw a state that was not governed by a
Prince or a King, but one where men occupied
the councils and magistracies as a state of
liberty, because the people had the freedom
to participate.
Contarini on the Perfection of the Venetian
Constitution
• With this reason therefore was the Senate ordained
and established in this commonwealth of ours, &
likewise the councell of the tenne, who in the citie of
Venice in whose commonwealth (as I said) there is a
mixture of three governments royall, popular & noble,
do represent the state of the nobilitie (‘optimatum
statum’), & are (as it were) the meane or the middle,
which reconcileth and bindeth together the two
extreames, that is, the popular estate represented in
the great councell, & the prince bearing a shew of
royaltie . . . the Senate of Venice hath a hundred and
twenty lawfull senators,
Constitutional arrangements
• The position of the Doge in relation to the
Grand Council and the other councils and
most importantly the Council of Ten
• Foscari’s time as doge
Justice
• This is a quality that the Venetians celebrated
in their public art. It is part of the
constitutional arrangements of the state; part
of the idea of liberty and a reason for the
harmony they boasted of
The figure of Justice
Porta della Carta
Piety
• Sanudo “Moreover it was founded not by
shepherds as Rome was, but by powerful and
rich people, such as have ever been since that
time, with their faith in Christ, an obstacle to
barbarians and attackers”
Piety
• Sansovino
“it is always the custom of our forebeares that
temporal matters should be accompanied by
religion”.
Piety and Sacred Legends
• Sacred legends like that of the Miracle of the
Relic or the Translation of the Body of Saint
Mark were used to develop the idea of Venice
as a sacred city
Piety
The Lion of St Mark on the Gates of the Arsenale
Piazzetta San Marco
Marin Sanudo
• “Moreover it was founded not by shepherds
as Rome was, but by powerful and rich
people, such as have ever been since that
time, with their faith in Christ, an obstacle to
barbarians and attackers”
Basilica San Marco
Wealth or Prosperity
• The wealth of Venice is consistently displayed
in the narrative paintings of the Scuole and
also the paintings that were commissioned by
the patrician government and individuals
Prosperity linked to imperial expansion
• Venice was certainly a wealthy city and her
wealth depended on her two Empires: the
Maritime and later, her Terraferma Empire
• Venice was an entrepot. A city whose ships
went down the Dalmatian coast into the
Mediterranean and traded with the Levant,
controlling the islands and territories on the
way, like Cyprus and Crete
Priuli on Venice’s trade
• The whole world flocked to Venice with ducats
to buy spices and other needs, and also placed
their goods there. Whence through the arrival
of foreigners and through the traffic of selling
and buying each year and in every trading
season, the city of Venice has come to this
excellence which it has attained.
Miracle on the Bridge of San Lorenzo
Harmony and Concord
• Venice’s peace and harmony is an element of
many of the narrative paintings
• The relationship between the classes and
between men and women, rich and poor is
represented as one of concord
Mansueti
The Miracle on the Bridge of San Lio
Social Customs
• The social customs and social institutions of
Venice were a means by which the Venetians
could encourage harmony and concord.
• This atmosphere is celebrated in its narrative
paintings.
The Healing of the Possessed Man
The challenges to the Myth
• Myth
• V
• Events which challenge the claims made by
Venice
Challenges
• Political
• Social
• Economic
• Internal and External
Political Challenges
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1310 Tiepoline Conspiracy
Leads to the creation of the Council of Ten
Sanudo calls this ‘a very severe magistracy’
1355 Falier Conspiracy
Leads to the execution of the Doge.
The Covering of the Picture of Doge
Falier
Social challenges
• Food riots in the C13th
• Price fixing in the guilds
• Need to deal with discordia in the scuole
Economic Challenges
• The expansion of the Ottoman Turks, which
meant the reduction in the Maritime Empire
and a resulting reduction in the wealth and
prosperity of the city
• The discoveries of the Portuguese navigators
Opposition to the Venetian expansion
onto the Terraferma
• Venetians themselves, like Priuli did not accept
this policy
• ‘And this they have gained by the sea, and with this
they have also been able to sustain the war and
acquire the state on the mainland. The reason why
the profit from the terra firma is very bad, as well in
war as in forced service, is that they consume as
much as they raise’.
Opposition to Venice’s expansion
• The Duke of Milan in 1484
• ‘You Venetians are wrong to disturb the peace of
Italy, and not to rest content with the fine state
which is yours. If you knew how everyone hates
you, your hair would stand on end and you would
let other people alone . . . You are alone, and all
the world is against you, not merely in Italy but
also beyond the Alps. Rest assured that your
enemies are not asleep. Take good counsel for, by
God, you need it. I know what I am saying’.
Internal Opposition
• There was an increase in the corruption within
the electoral processes of the early 16th
century – ‘the myth of the excellence of
Venice actually arose out of Venetian
weakness’ (Queller)
The League of Cambrai