The small square between the basilica and the water is the Piazzetta. This “little square” is framed by the Doge’s Palace on the left, the library on the right, and the waterfront of the lagoon. In former days, the Piazzetta was closed to the public for a few hours a day so that government officials and bigwigs could gather in the sun to strike shady deals.
The pale pink Doge’s Palace is the epitome of the style known as Venetian Gothic. Columns support traditional, pointed Gothic arches, but with a Venetian flair – they’re curved to a point, ornamented with a trefoil (three-leaf clover), and topped with a round medallion of a quartrefoil (four-leaf clover).
The pattern is found on buildings all over Venice and on the formerly Venetian-controlled Croatian coast, but nowhere else in the world (except Las Vegas).
The two large 12th-century columns near the water were (like so much else) looted from Constantinople. Mark’s winged lion sits on top of one. The lion’s body (nearly 15 feet long) predates the wings and is more than 2,000 years old.
The other column holds St. Theodore (battling a crocodile), the former patron saint who was replaced by Mark. I guess stabbing crocs in the back isn’t classy enough for an upwardly mobile world power. After public ridicule, criminals were executed by being hung from these columns in the hope that the public could learn its lessons.
The seat of the Venetian government and home of its ruling duke, or doge, this was the most powerful half-acre in Europe for 400 years. The Doge’s Palace was built to show off the power and wealth of the Republic. The doge lived with his family on the first floor up, near the halls of power.
From his once-lavish (now sparse) quarters, you’ll follow the one-way tour through the public rooms of the top floor, finishing with the Bridge of Sighs and the prison. The place is wallpapered with masterpieces by Veronese and Tintoretto.
Entering through the colonnaded courtyard you’ll spot Sansovino’s brawny statues of Apollo and Neptune flanking Antonio Rizzo’s Scala dei Giganti (Giants’ Staircase). Recent restoration have preserved charming cherubim propping up the pillars, though slippery incised-marble steps remain off-limits.
Level 2 – From the loggia level, head to the top of Sansovino’s 24-carat gilt stucco-work Scala d’Oro (Golden Staircase) and emerge into rooms covered with gorgeous propaganda. In Palladio-designed Sala delle Quattro Porte (Hall of the Four Doors), ambassadors awaited ducal audiences under a lavish display of Venice’s virtues by Giovanni Cambi, whose over-the-top stucco work earned him the nickname Bombarda.
Other convincing shows of Venetian superiority include Titian’s 1576 Doge Antonio Grimani Kneeling Before Faith, amid approving cherubim, and Tiepolo’s 1740s Venice Receiving Gifts of the Sea from Neptune, where Venice is a gorgeous blonde figure casually leaning on a lion.
Delegations waited in the Anticollegio (Council Antechamber), where Tintoretto drew parallels between Roman gods and Venetian government: Mercury and the Three Graces rewards Venice’s industriousness with beauty, and Minerva Dismissing Mars is a Venetian triumph of savvy over brute force. The recently restored ceiling is Veronese’s 1577 Venice Distributing Honours, while on the walls is a vivid reminder of diplomatic behavior to avoid: Veronese’s Rape of Europe.
Few were granted an audience in the Palladio-designed Collegio (Council Chamber), where Veronese’s Virtues of the Republic ceiling shows Venice again as a blonde figure waiving her sceptre like a wand over Justice and Peace. Father-son team Jacopo and Domenico Tintoretto attempt similar flattery, showing Venice keeping company with Apollo, Mars and Mercury in their Triumph of Venice ceiling for the Sala del Senato (Senate Chamber), but frolicking lagoon sea monsters steal the scene.
Government cover-ups were never so appealing as in the Sala Consiglio dei Dieci (Chamber of the Council of Ten), where Venice’s star chamber plotted under Veronesse’s Juno Bestowing her Gifts on Venice, depicting a glowing goddess strewing gold ducats. Above the slot where anonymous treason accusations were slipped into the Sala della Bussola (Compass Room) is Veronese’s St Mark in Glory ceiling.
We head back downstairs to the chambers of the Quarantia Civil Vecchia (Council of Forty), a kind of court, split into sections dealing with criminal matters, civil disputes concerning Venetians and civil disputes pertaining to Venice’s other territories. This last room is now used by restorers; peer through the windows to see them at work.
Beyond is the cavernous 1419 Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Grand Council Chamber), where the doge’s throne once stood in front of the staggering Paradise backdrop (by Tintoretto’s son, Domenico) that’s more politically correct than pretty: heaven is crammed with 500 prominent Venetians, including several Tintoretto patrons. Veronese’s political posturing is more elegant in his oval Apotheosis of Venice ceiling, where gods marvel at Venice’s coronation by angels, with foreign dignitaries and blonde Venetians rubbernecking on the balcony below. A frieze along the top of the room depicts the first 76 doges of Venice, but note the black space: Doge Marin Falier would have appeared here had he not lost his head for treason in 1355.
We also took an additional tour of the prisons and dungeons where the condemned crossed the bridge of sighs (which I’ll cover later).
The dungeons were certainly not glamorous places. Not much light – imagine flickering lamps instead of electric lights. Virtually no ventilation. Not a nice place to spend any time.
Since the prisoners were mostly illiterate, cell numbers were often done incorrectly to confuse the prisoners who thought of escape.
We then got to see the quarters of the common folks who had the highest pay of any non-elite – the judges who heard the cases of these condemned. In order to keep them from being tempted by bribes, they had a pay that was equal to $500,000 in today’s terms.
The archeives for all of Venice were held here in the Doge’s Palace.
Ultimately the condemned were brought in front of three judges to hear their case. They were tortured here but none were executed here. That was reserved for the space between the two pillars outside. But their arms were broken and shoulders dislocated, so most confessed to something right inside this room
The tour finished with the telling of the escape of one of the most well-known prisoners of the palace – Casanova. He had very nice cells compared to most – since each prisoner could outfit it with their own bed and items. This included a chair that Casanova liked – where he was able to hide the dagger that allowed him and a priest to tunnel their way thru the flooring and into a staircase where they ultimately just walked out of the prison.
A very cool tour – one we were glad to have made.