Unlike other government seats, the Doge’s Palace doesn’t resemble a castle. Venice moved beyond the architecture-as-fortress mentality hundreds of years before the rest of Europe. More importantly, the Gothic emphasis on light and permeability – with lacy filigrees and delicate spires rather than heavy walls – became the ultimate expression of Venetian identity. Intricate carvings, both fanciful and geometric, complemented the Byzantine and Islamic styles. The scope of Gothic architecture in Venice may have been limited, but its forms appeared peculiarly suited to the environment. On the right, the whirling balconies make the Palazzo Contarini-Fasan (a.k.a. On the left, the Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti and Palazzo Barbaro are classic examples of late and early Venetian Gothic styles. While the shapes and ornamentation might borrow from Byzantine, Gothic, Renaissance, or any number of other traditions, Venetian palazzos maintained roughly the same layout. As the part of the primary façades, the openings became a way to exhibit style and power. With most of the light coming from the side on the water, a profusion of windows and loggias grew along the canals. The city’s density encouraged construction of narrow buildings, usually four to six stories in height. The glorious height worked better for church rituals than day-to-day life, where people required easy access to multiple floors for residential and business activities. The absence of vaults, normally the very core of the Gothic style, is a sign of Venice’s idiosyncrasy.īy the time the Gothic style arrived in Venice, locals had already developed a standard model for secular buildings. Unlike traditional Gothic architecture, Venetian Gothic blossomed in non-religious buildings. Gothic cathedrals developed vaulting with pointed arches as a means of supporting a roof without solid walls. Notable examples include the Santo Stefano, San Giovanni in Bragora, and Madonna dell’Orto. The Gothic style spread to other local churches. Madonna dell’Orto and San Giovanni in Bragora Because their monks swore vows of poverty, they favored austere rather than ornate exteriors for the churches. In order to reduce each massive structure’s weight, they both adopted the Lombard tradition of building in brick rather than stone. Both began construction in the mid-13th century, and finished in the 15th. The Franciscan Frari and Dominican Santi Giovanni E Paolo churches share many characteristics. Among the most prominent groups were the Franciscans and the Dominicans, who both required large churches for the crowds they attracted with charismatic preachers. Mark’s, with its jaw-dropping mosaics and opulent domes.Īs new orders within the Christian community spread, they brought the Gothic style with them to Venice. By the time the French created the first Gothic cathedrals, Venetians already had their own magnificent edifice: St. Walls of stained glass were also impractical – not to mention incongruous against Venice’s rich Byzantine heritage and Islamic influences. The heavy stone piers and buttresses required to support soaring vaults would never work on the lagoon’s marshy landscape. Italians never fully embraced the traditional Gothic style, and Venice had even less use for it than most of the peninsula. Most of all, Venetian Gothic arose out of the city’s unique physical and cultural environment. It also coincided with the city’s historical peak, when its dominance of Mediterranean trade brought in wealth to fund expressions of power and taste. It describes a period when the city incorporated some decorative elements from Gothic structures, most notably pointed arches, into its own distinctive building style. In fact, Venetian Gothic architecture isn’t very Gothic at all. “Gothic” also implies pre-Renaissance, but Venetian buildings in the 14th and 15th centuries already incorporated plenty of modern ideas. As anyone who has seen the Doge’s Palace can attest, Gothic forms are only one of many influences. Nothing illustrates this better than the city’s most iconic style, which goes by the rather inadequate label of “Venetian Gothic”. Venetian architecture doesn’t follow the same patterns as anywhere else.
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