VII VEN ETIAN EPILOG

Jacopo Sansovino from Inuentio

U E

to Consuetudo

l,,l llti pRECEDING pAGES have introduced a new theme into oi-rr consid-
THr
erations: by distingr-rishing between the clifferent ways that Machuca ancl
Siloe interpreted the humanistic message, the problem of the European
reception of the new language has moved to the forefront of our inquiry. The rea-
sons for this phenomenon were investigated at the beginning of this book; at its con-
clusion something must be added concerning possible methocls of approach. As has
proven to be the case in other clisciplinary areas, it is appropriate to focus on systems
of clelay, on resistances, and on mental determinants-in those cultures invested with
nonautochthonous processes of renewal-that produce adaptations, clistortions, inter-
prerations, ancl hybrids.' The all'anticd idiom implied, it has been said, a "spirit of cal-
culation": ancl yet, the universalism connccted with this idiom could not avoicl com-
ing to terms with the sedimentecl ancl cliverse cultures that were ready to accept its
forms. An entire artistic geography dealing with mocles of rcception sti1l awaits ex-
ploration. In a series of lectures editcd in r9t9, Andr Chastel took a significant step
toward the realization of this goal with refcrence to sixteenth-centllry France.2 How-
ever, what was examined in the previous chapter, and what we are about lo analyze
in this one, concern specific buildings.
It is not possible to formulate general hypotheses by studying the exceptional char-
acter of spccific cases. But a more exhaustive and profound analysis of episodes se-
lecred for their historiographic eloquence has particular value for the research at the
frontiers of the cliscipline that wc are proposing here. ln this rcspect it is possible to

2t9
 VENETIAN EPILOGIIF, VENETIAN EPILOGUE

consider the "case" ofVenice by adopting interpretive criteria that the harmonic attificium any-
do not differ sub- absolute sysrems of thought makes her difidence toward
stantially from the ones already used to study Spain. Even more so
than in the case thing but surPrising.
a cultural phe-
of Spain, however, in Venice beginning in r45o interactions become legible
between A casein point is provided by ffteenth-century "Neobyzantinism,"
a reafirmation of identity' It
nomenon that appears to have been the conseluence of
centers and peripheries, between innovative practices and consolidated
mentalities,
and between the "use of the new" and the jealous guarding of
a sacrosanct identity. does not seem fortuitous that this strategy developed,
for the most part' in the wake
IV placed the Sere-
As far as the sixteenth century is concerned, it is beyond doubt
that Venice assimilated of rensions with the Papac which came to a head when Sixtus
very little of the legacies of Bramante, Raphael, and Sangallo until a council in r48z: an
the r53os:nor is it nissima under the Interdict. Venice responded by summoning
possible to imagine the direction in which the architectural history issued by Pius II'3 The iso-
of the Serenissima act of defance that ignored the Bull Execrabil previously
might have moved without the contribution of a protagonist of the all'atr'tica architecture
Roman Grment lated efforts of a fgure like Tullio Lombardo notwithstanding,
like Sansovino. Now that we have tried to clarify the means by which ,,Romarrist" signifcance in the Venetian context.a on the other hand, the
the city of Saint acquired a
Mark came to be guided by processes of urban development ma.ked by "arts" could only give rise to patterns
longue dure, ,{lertian fgure ofthe architect as arbiter ofthe
an examination that deals exclusively to restrict programmatic deci-
with architecture is in order; moreover, consid- of resistance within a system whose usual tendency was
erations inherent in the imginre of Yenice and the myths associated with it remain sions to the governing classes and to assign their
execution to empirics "sine scientia"
valid as background for new analyses. (without theoretical knowledge)'
that governed pa-
These considerations,
^t
any tate, can help us to uncover the reasons behind very As far as domestic architecture is concerned, the motivations
particular reception of all'antica forrns. Making a triumphal entrnce into found in decorous mediocritas a means of response congruent
with
the context trician decisions
of Piazza San Marco as emblems of an ideal refoundation of the city, typological fdelity implicitly
they nonetheless rhe venetian myth of original equality. In this respect,
encountered considerable dificulties when trying to penetrate
the urban fabric. What signifed adherence to a c-ardinal principle of republican
liberty: the notion of coop-
is more, it is also the case that their basic presuppositions encountered of the fifteenth cen-
symptomatic between "equals." Compromises reached over the course
"r"^tion that remained con-
tury, however, set ;hne of mediation between patrons and proti
resistances; indeed, a state of overt conflict between Rome
and venice persisted on
the architectural front as in other areas: one whose ideal motivations constructed "in the Lombard
are transparent, stant. Here one example may be mentioned: palazzetti
and which become all the more interesting the less explicitly
they are spoken of in the style,, (Iombardeschi),*i.h, owing to the variety of
their confgurations-and despite
textual sources. models' In such a
their exterior organization-never managed to abandon accepted
Here we are not dealing with a mere reflection of political conflicts
that pitted situation, the construction of "alla romana" palaces could only be read as an act of
Venice against the Holy See beginning in the first half of the fifteenth "Papalist" choices' Mani-
century. It is deliberate ostentation that expressed, at times provocatively,
worth reiterating that in Venice typological persistences, traditional festations of this ph.rro-.non acquire specifc meanings as
we come closer to the de-
building prac-
tices, and formal choices play a determining role: indeed, this
specific nexus of factors cisive clash berween Venice and the Holy See, which erupted with the proclamation
structured mental representations that were deeply rooted in the
patriciate, especially of the Interdict in ro-7.
after the institutional consolidation that emerged in the fift".nth
century. Tie irnago It is necessary, however, to move beyond such general consiclerations' Mixtures
Venetian
and hybrid forms characteristic of a signifcant part of sixteenth-century
urb, the typology of the patric ian domr'ts, and the themes taken
up by ecclesiastical
architecture: all of these aspects of the city incessantly refer to values
pe.uliar to Ve- architectural production describe a history that intertwined
with the one just men-
netian identity. Venice's singularit claims to sacrality, the idea of to Venice-Jacopo
cocord among the tioned. The artist who introduced the results of the Roman debate
various members of the patriciate, the topos of the "mixed state,,,and in this regard'
the fusion of Sansovino-is implicated in works that provide optimal test cases
religion and civic pride all contributed to a horizon that provided
a reference point In this chapter, we shall therefore examine four of Sansovino's
works-the unreal-
for the res aedifcatoria, Teaving only minimal margins of ..rtorro-y. Corner, and the Case
ized palace p,o..t for Vettor Grimani, Pa|azzo Dolfin, Palazzo
The particular value attributed to tradition thus acted as a sort by analyses of longue
ofcoagulant. In the Mor -*hl.h all respond in unexpected ways to questions raised
Roma instartranda directed by the papar princes, humanism coherent e'semble, they deneate a history that offers an
un-
surreptitiousry introduced dure. Considered as
ilouitas under the guise of recovering the antique. Generally
,p.rkirrg, in the serenis- foreseen finale to the reflections motivating this study: in this respect, Sansovino's
sima, the "new" is accepted on the condition that it renourr.. representation
it, claims to be abso_ itinerary suggests a line of inquiry that engges the history of modern
lute' Which is the same as saying: when it is willing to engage in we should not be surprised
dialogue with a con- itself (l ,toro ,trrro dd ,nodrrno rapptesentare)' Furthermore'
suetudo participating in a universe in which oppositions
dissolve. venice's resistance to to find that microhistories .or.rr..t"d with a failed project, and with three realized

220 22r
 VENTIAN EPILOGUE VENETIAN EPILOGUE

eloquent juncture between the Sansovino

works of architecture, were traversed by motivations of ample scope that emit mes- that the drawing in question constitutes an
Antonio da Sangallo the Younger,
sages comparable to the language of everyday life. who was attentive to the innovations of Raphael,
and Baldassa re Pentzzi, and the frst phases
of the Venetian reception of the "new
11
style."
r. An Unrealized Project: VettorGrimani's palace further, thanks to the analo-
The affnity between the two plans can be clari{ied
case on the Canale di Ponte' the Venetian
The first part of our analysis is obligatory: that of coming to terms with the earliest gous confguration of their sites' As is the
to rearticulate the model with two cortili
testimony of sansovino's presence in venice, a famous drawing in the Museo correr site is developed in depth, making it feasible
Library (Degni, cl. III, o38r) (see plate rz5). The drawing-the attriburion of which previously designed in Rome from 15r5 to
rirg'
we have discussed elsewheres-shows the plan of a palace whose interest derives both Ho*".,".,thesubtleanddifficultProcedureofadaptingpreexistingStructures-
from its high quality and from the exceptional character of its patron.Infact,it docu- one rhat partly determined the confguratio
n of Palazzo Gaddi - did not recur in the
take into account the walls Set at an oblique
ments an idea that can be dated to r5z7-28, at a point in Sansovino's career immedi- Venetian project' The new p1",, do.,-,'ot
to Llse Benedetto Ferrini's expression)'12 We shall
try
ately after his flight from Rome, which had just been overwhelmed by the Sack. De- angle to the faade ("gualampe,"
by evaluating the most signifcant
signecl to face the Grand Canal, the building was intended for a site then occupied ro inrerpret the Muse Cor.., drawing, therefore,
the Roman precedent'
by the fragments of the so-called Ca'del Duca, which Vetror Grimani had acquired a ways in which it varied the "type" fxed by
short time earlier ee Plate n4).In itself the context is quite revealing. On the one
hand, the drawing can help us piece together the rragic events of ry27; indeed, in
sea level: two converglng
many respects it throws a bridge across the gap between the Sansovino of the Medici THE is located about one and a half meters above
years and the Sansovino who will make Venice his new home. on the other hand, the
'ALACE
ramps, each with ten stairs, are attached to
the structure that-given the dimensions
name of Vettor Grimani evokes a milieu that supported the exiled Florentine artist, of rhe external piers - should be read as loggia
with a triple arcade flanked by pilasters'
who made his contribrtion a significant part of its specific cultural strategy. Like the which may have had an upper balcony (see Plates
n5 and rz). Here a preliminary
arcade introduces a linguistic element
cardinal himself, Vettor, procurator of San Marco, brother of Giovanni, patriarch of observation is in order: th motif of the triple
that will subse-
Aquilea, and nephew of Cardinal Domenico, was among Sansovino's friends and allies. to venice that Giulio Romano used previously in the Palazzo Te and
From 153-37 on, he would be the ptron for virtually all the public projecrsJacopo quently recur in Sansovino's ownPalazzo Corner'
planned in Venice.6 Rgrrd..waslocatedtotheleftofthemainbodyofthepalace'enclosedbyatwo-
corner solution of the faade in-
Giovanni Alvise l)olce's purchase of the site was oflcially completed by March 28, b"y lggia fronting the Grand Canal. The rusticated
r5z8: negotiations between Vettore and Dolce probably occurred a year earlier. This dicates the bipartition of the complex'
clate coincides with a reference made in written by Lorenzo Lotto and dated
a letter Asaresultofitsdecidedlyvirtuosicorganization'theplanoftheresidentialnu-
October 7, 1527i in the passage in question, the painter apparently refers to Vettor Gri- cleus is, however, the most striking feature
of the design. Two large volumes are
mani's palace when he states that Sansovino was asked to create a "model of a certain ..composed,, in such a way that they a,e brought into relationship regardless of the

palace that is being built for a very rich man-one that will cost about twenty thou- rotationoftheiraxesof,y-*.t.y.Ifthespacesflankingtheentrancevestibuleare
behind it, dominated by sequentially
sand ducats."7 Lotto adds an interesting detail: in 427
Jacopo was guest at the Vene- aligned with the Grand C,,-l,l, the body lo..ted
formed by the two axes mea-
tian residence of Giovanni Gaddi.s Gaddi, in fact, was one of the patrons of the palace ,rng.d cortili, tsaligned with the sicle canal: the angle
that Sansovino designed on rhe canale di ponte in Rome (see plate n7)-abuilding sures about ffteen degrees. Sansovino seems
to have focused on the difculties im-
whose organism, it should be noted, was almost precisely replicated in the project that posed by this initial dcision, making the solution
of continuity between the shifted
appears in the Museo Correr drawing.e volumes the protagonist of his "invention." ,t
signifcant part of this strategy unfolds
This sirnilarity is decisive for the attribution of the Venerian clrawing. lloth pa- when the central bay of the lower loggia opens
onto the entrance porticho through an
lazzo Gaddi and vettor Grimani's projecr adopt a specifc model for the plan-one embrasured portal. As a result, the rear of the
vestibule is thrown off-center: the un-
entrance with the central axis of the
composed of two cornmunicattng cortile-that was anything but the norm in the first expected visual alignment of the Grand canal
dealing with a genuine "sptezzatura"
years of the sixteenth centlrry, despite some nticipations in Francesco di Giorgio, Leo- cortili compensates for this anomaly. Here we are
narclo, .Antonio da Sangallo the Elder (clrawing u77%Av), and Anronio da Sangallo the thar resolves a major difficulty in plan apparently
without effort' This becomes espe-
Younger (see Plates rz7, tz5).t0 It is not by chance that we have alreacly pointed out ciallyevidentfromtheGrandcanal,wheretheaxisofsymmetryofrhecottiliisseen

223
222
 VENETIAN EPILOGUE
to fall between the two columns framing the entrance. symmetry is thus brought
into play as an abusione, or conspicuous deviation from the norm, to cite an expres-
sion of Castiglione's, introduced to add vitality to the dominant symmetries. For the
approaching visitor who has just arrived at the vestibule threshold, a scenography of
surprises awaits: in this sense, the great entrance space would have seemed decidedly
ambiguous.
Equipped with an explicit backdrop-a niche aligned with the axis of symmerry
that may have been occupied by an antique statue-the space in question nonethe-
less opens in irregular fashion along an extended perspectival "telescope" framed by
a large portal. In this way, the visitor would have been invited ro abruptly shift di-
rection in accord with an elaborate visual "machine." The unexpected lateral breach
seems, in fact, to have been added to produce an "irreal" effect, permitting the viewer
to recognize, as if magically, unforeseen spaces. We shoulcl not underestimate the fact
that, as at [Sansovino's own] Palazzo Gaddi, the cortile sequence, owing to the trans-
parency of the intermediate loggia, places the perspective backdrop at an indefinite
distance from the viewer.
Other details are typical of Sansovino's manner. The square cortile organzed along
diagonally mirrored axes-comprised of two loggias folded at the corner and two
walls articulated by pilasters that reflect the rhythm of the columns-is analogous to
the cortile that would subsequently be designed forPalazzo corner
ee
plate r49). It
should also be noted that access on the side canal leads to the center of the same cortile,
asis also the case inPalazzo Corner. The astylar waterfront faade, defined by nothing
besides large corner blocks and without orders, seems moreover to recall Sangallesque
precedents.
THE ORGANISM suggests an excursus on a theme of fundamental importance to our
investigation. Here we are dealing with distinct approaches-corresponding to alter-
native design options-demanded by irregular sites and by points ofjuncture able to
compromise the regularity of the organisms. In such cases the Albertian conceprion
of architecture as animan..s, a microcosm realized more l,tarmonicq is endangered. The
two rnain alternatives are already implicit inthePalazzo Ducale at Urbino: on the one
hand, rotation of the wing containing the thin towers, a maneuver mediated by the
eloquent corner pivots; on the other hand, elaborate mediation between irregulari-
ties imposed by the original structure and a regularity to which it was compellecl to
"allude" (for evidence of this, see the faade made up of separate wings or the hang-
ing garden).
The second solution is typical of Francesco di Giorgio and was subsequently taken up
by Peruzzi. For Francesco di Giorgio, as demonstrated by his fortification pro.jects, ancl
even more dramatically by the cortile tnthePalazzo Ducale in Gubbio,13 the perfection
of the geornetric object constitutes an ideal type that becomes available for distortion
224
VENETIAN EPILOGUE
and inventive manipulation once it has erupted into real space. Through analogical
reasoning, this dialectic has been brilliantly deflected toward another-the one be-
tween "virt" and "fortuna"-which was highly valued by humanist thought.ra Fran-
cesco di Giorgio assimilated the compromise between archetype and accidetts as a re-
ality to be exhibited, rather than as an imperfection to be concealed. The trapezoidal
form of the Gubbio cortile, whose fourth side is closed, and whose differentiated corner
solutions and entrances are located on its short sides (which, to be sure, are put there
to crete "pieni in asse"), is explicit in this sense.15 Here we are dealing with decisio4s
rhat are conceptually analogous to those made by Raphael in thePalazzetto ofJacopo
da Brescia and by Peruzziin his projectsforPalazzo Ricci at Montepulciano and for
Palazzo Massimo in Rome (Plate 134).16 Like Francesco di Giorgio, Raphael had to
work with an irregular site and with structures that needed to be reutilized: the dis-
rortion of ideal models introduced a certain flexibility into the organism, exemplifed
by the semitrapezoidal terminal element and the insertion of a triangular staircase
into it. At any rate, the cortiletto on axis with the two corridors, and the addition of
irregular indicate the adoption of an "elastic" method: site constraints and pre-
spaces,
existing structures spurred on the invention o a faade consisting of progressively
contracted bays resolved into a scenographic screen with perspectival effects.
However, in the subsequent project for his own residence on Via Giulia-drawings
u310 and u311A (Plare r35)-Raphael followed a partially alternative method of com-
'lVhile
position. choosing to exploit, as before, the contraction of the bays (on the
side facing Vicolo delle Palle), as well as a corner element similar to the one used in
PalazzoJacopo da Brescia, the architect inserted two all'antica cortili into the irregu-
lar site, brilliantly rotated in relation to each other and tangentially inscribed within
secondary structures. Points ofjuncture and irregularities are absorbed by exceptional
elements-cisterns for the "stufa" (heating facility), a triangular stair, water closets,
walls of distorted shape-in such a way as to formulate a language able to contain
within itself geometric absolutes and an elasticity in the plan. Raphael's characteristic
axial rotations have a sixteenth-century precedent: Bramante's brilliant solution for
the Cortile del llelvedere nicchione, which connected it to the fifteenth-century Villa
of Innocent VIII (Plate r3z). However, Bramante's apparatus exhibits no distortions;
its rotation is conditioned by the geometry of two spatial units that are autonomously
defined. The theater of the upper Belvedere and its statue court, whose corners have
niches, communicate by means of an off-center portal. Placed to the side of the axial
niche of the semicircle, the portal opens into the court, thus permitting a diagonal
reading-a move that serves only to reinforce the effect of continuity obtained by the
articulated, chamfered corners.
This design represents the opposite pole of the research made explicit by Francesco
di Giorgio Martini in the Gubbio cortile.
In the Ilelvedere, the two spaces, absolute in their diverse confgurations, refuse
distortion and "dialogue" (colloc1uio). Their connection is hidden thanks to an appar-
225
 VE'NETIAN EPILOGUE
tus designed to give a visual shock. In a certain sense, Raphael's Via Giulia residence
seems to reflect an intention to combine the path pursued by Francesco di Giorgio
and the "new style" of Bramante.
There is no doubt that, in the Museo Correr drawing, Sansovino has chosen to fol-
low the path laid down by Bramante and Raphael. Yet there is another project from
the Roman context-which most likely dates to the r53os-that reGrs to the solution
adopted in Vettor Grimani's palace: drawing u578,a., a proposal for San Giacomo degli
Incurabili in Rome. Although this drawing is of uncertain attribution, it was prob-
ably executed in Antonio da Sangallo the Younger's studio.17 In this design, a circular
church with a vestibule is arranged along a line rotated approximately eight degrees
in relation to Via Lata. At the same time, the rectangular cortile to the rear is rotated
ten degrees to the axis of the church. Rotunda and cortile are joined by a portal which
is centered in relation to the former and set at an angle in relation to the latter. In this
way the geometric purity of the individual organisms is maintained through a process
of recomposition ensured by an artificial connection.
One cannot rule out the possibility that Bramante's Belvedere and Sansovino's pal-
ace project for Vettor Grimani relied upon a specific model among multiple antique
exempla that, beginning with Hadrian's villa, are typi{ed by multiaxral organisms.
One is reminded specifically of the aforementioned Temple of Romulus on the Via
Sacra represented in f . r of the Codex Coner (unique among Renaissance survey
drawings): a dome rotated in relation to the organisms behind it.18 This ancienr monu-
ment had been studied before as a source for modern inventions: elsewhere I have
identified it as a source for the Church of Giuliano da Sangallo in the drawing at the
top of drawing \J262Ar, as well as a precedent for Antonio da Sangallo the Younger's
Mint and the project (perhaps by l3ramante?) for the University of Rome.
In the eyes of sixteenth-century architects, the Temple of Romulus managed to
preserve the organic quality and independence of the plan figure, while employing
rotations and solutions of continuity as "eccentric" elements. It is therefore not by
chance that Bramante and Raphael absorbed its lesson; on the other hand, in their
survey drawings Francesco di Giorgio and Peruzzi preGrred "not to see" devices
proposed by the ancient monument. These artifces were uncceptable in any case to
architects like Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Andrea Palladio, and Michele San-
micheli, who, with reference to the theme in question, advocated a third way. The
configuration more geotnetrico of their organisms is, in fact, absolute. Irregularities clue
to "diffcult" sites are relegatecl to the margins as insignificant distortions (cf. draw-
ings U87, U872, UB73A, which are, respectively, designs for San Giacomo degli Incu-
rabili, a Palladian project "per un sito piramidale" [for a pyramidal site], and the plan
of Palazzo Grimani at San Luca).
On the other hand, the elaborate apparatus represented in the Museo Correr draw-
ing involves a virtuosity reminiscent of Brarnante and Raphael, and reveals allnities
with the most sophisticated researches of early-sixteenth-century Rome: the con-
zz6
VENETIAN EPILOGUE
figuration of the area is interpreted by avoiding both an exclusively empirical attitLlde
excessively gid concinntas, The sprezzatura connecting cortili and
"porticho"
.n
"nd a deliberate am-
speaks the language of perspectival illusionism, explicitly accepting
biguity that serves as a compositional instrument and a means of visual attraction'
LET US Now return to the reading of the project, to verify its coherence in the reso-
lution of details.
The virtuosic solution of the vertical connections is unprecedented: take, for
in-
systems of the
stance, the small staircases leading to the mezzanines. The two axial
plan turn on these stairs, making them into veritable "hinges," and in so
doing create
th. trap.roidal poch that the staircases themselves occupy. In the second example-a
,eil pice of bravura-two opposite stairs starting from the ground level meet on an
interiediate landing from which they diverge as they make their way upward to the
inde-
next level. In this way, the problem of the palace entrances is resolved, enabling
pendent access to rooms located at opposite ends of the building.le In
fact, the project
,pp..., to have been intende dfor afratenm (a group of brothers) who wished to secure
,.I^ti r. independence for each part of the palace; in this connection it is interesting to
put
recall that in their palace at Santa Maria Formosa, Vettore and Giovanni Grimani
independent stairways side by side. In the Correr project, the double staircase provides
access to the three residential nuclei; and it is likely that, to the
rooms on the Grand
canal side near the garden, a gallery above the loggia between the cortliwas added.
ele-
One should note that this invention entailed the elimination of a fundamental
ment of the traditional Venetian palace: the salone functioning as a corridor (salone
passante).This feature seems to have been repudiated so s to emphasize
private sPace'
he centrality of the salone "aTlaveneziana," which afforded direct entry to the side
rooms, had a precise signifcance: it exalted family unity while giving the individu-
al's needs a secondary role. ,\ different interpretation of the domus
is implicit in Sanso-
the
vino's project: an apparatus consisting of cortli and logie polemically displaces-to
extent that it is recognizably "Roman"-a component that was of fundamental im-
for
portance to the development of Venetian typology and custom' To compensate
,hir, 1".opo makes the sraircases rangenr to the larger court pay hornage to the
vene-
tian model. The most obvious reference here is to Mauro Codussi's staircases at
the
Scuole Grandi di San Marco and at San Giovanni Evangelista, which, for an architect
of Roman background like Sansovino, would have probably evoked Bramantesque
solutions such as the stairs leading to the upper Cortile del Belvedere.
However, these staircases are rather narrow what is more, the number of steps
(fft to be precise) proves that the pano nobile attic was raised about eight and a half
meters above ground level, a feature of the palace that makes the insertion of
the
mezzanines between the ground floor stairs and their upper-level counterparts a via-
ble proposition. It is necessary to imagine, moreovef' rectilinear trabeations supported
 VENETIAN EPILOGUE VENETIAN EPILOGUE

canal faade is about

by columns, since arches supported by columns would have been an inconceivable the entrance vestibule ts 7.2 x 7. meters wide, while the side
is offered by the tfansvefse section of the rectan-
anachronism for an architect like Sansovino, a consummate master of the languages 50 meters long. Metrical verifcation
the loggias into account, we
that inherited Roman researches.2O An idiom with clecidedly "Latin" ccents is also glrlar cortile: iiwe take the mezzantnes inserted between
in the reconstruction' the
used in the vestibule, which is tripartite on the Grand Canal side and ends in a small nd .rp with bays 4 column diameters wide' As they appear
proportions-appear to
niche-one that is discreet since that is all the poch will allow. This solution, more- ,rrp"rior"d loggias-whose bays are determined by Vitruvian
(Plate r35)." Although this is
over, is arranged so that it can act as the perspectival finale of a space articulated by reGr to the loggias in Raphael's residence on via Giulia
and by the refined eclecti-
pilasters without disrupting the scenographic vision disclosed by the portal that opens nothing *or..r, a hypothesis, it is justifed by the plan
to the side. cism that distinguishes Sansovino's output in the 15zos'
The square cortilehas no backdrop; but this choice is justified by the form of this
space that, as we have indicated earlier, is organized according to a mirroring around
attempt to introduce
a diagonal. Significantly, it is only here, in this space, that the corner pilasters are fili- To CONCLUDE, we may observe that the project constitutes an
debate into the climate of
form: dtre to this device, the final cortile continues the orthogonal directionality of the an organism that transmits the fertile Roman architectural
Venetian architecture'
rectangular cortilewith a diagonal directionality. The sequence of the rooms-many p.rrdJrt traditionalism characteristic ofearly-sixteenth-century
the loggia projecting over the
of which have freplaces-is ensured by a series of portals arranged en enflade; on the Given the succession of cortili, the double staircase, and
effect on eyes ccustomed
Grand Canal sicle, the vestibule and its flanking rooms form a triptych due to the sym- Grand canal, the palace would have had a disconcerting
possibly even more dis-
metrical placement of the cloors of the rooms at either end. On the rio side, on the to accepted p"t.i.,r building traditions-an effect that was
provoke'
other hand, three bedrooms are placed between two reception halls, and these bed- quieting than the impression thePalazzo Corner would subsequently
few families able to fully ap-
rooms have windows that are centered in relation to the cortile pilasters, br-rt off-center vetrore and Giovanni Grimani belonged ro one of the
Connected to the Holy See in a
in relation to the interior spaces; another bedroom and a hall are inserted at the sides preciare the domestic program implicit in the project.
faction-the
of the lateral androne. The connecting gallery to the rear is replicated on the left side .rrr-b., of ways-and th...for. members of the "Romanist," pro-papal
in the curia, and
of the Palazzo Corner cortle; the kitchens or service areas were probably relegated to Grimani had for some time deployed humanist culture, membership
"all'antica" architecture as a means of proudly set-
the ground floor, in rooms facing the garden. a predilection for collecting and for
Domenico's culture'
Under ordinary circumstances, our reconstruction would be able to refer to a unit ting themselves apart f.o- th" midlevel patriciate. In cardinal
for Florentine Neo-
of measurement that is normally written on the upper margin of the sheet; but it is ,ypathies with Erasmian thought coexisted with an enthusiasm
at precisely this point that we encounter a problem. It appears that the project was jrrrrir- and authoritrri"n ,.rJ "neofeudal" attitudes.23 Yet it stands to reason that a
of Yenice as this
conceived in Venetian passi, as is indicated by text that runs in a direction contrary p.o..t as "heretical" and innovative with respect to the sacred imago
courant, and ambitious
to the handwriting of subseqr-rent comments, since an anonymous sixteenth-century orr. *orrld have perplexecl even patrons as sophisticated, au
hand wrote the following words: "tutto viene passi X." Yet when measured in passi as the Grimani. It is possible that the vicissitudes
the family experienced after t5z8
Nevertheless, the sub-
(one passo equals r.738 meters), the pro.ject would seem to have two cortili :-748 ne- impeded the realizatin of the palace designed by Sansovino.2a
project in which Vettor
ters wicle, accompanied by loggias whose bays seem to be 4.5r meters wide: a set of sequent renovation of the palace at Santa Maria Formosa-a
symptom-
measllrements that clearly tnakes no sense. By using the width of the winclows and pt"y.d parr, bur which was largely directed by Giovanni Grimani2s-is
of rooms-a
atic of the cultural strtegy the family pursued in private. A
sequence
the doors, and reasonable estimations of the risers of the stairs as parameters, the mea-
decorated with forms
surements of the projects become more plausible. In all likelihood the clraughtsman museLlm that the patnar.h of quilea opened to visitors-was
of eccentric "moder-
used a different unit of measurement (Roman palmi?) ancl that the notation addecl on that skirted the limits of excess, in an untrammeled exhibition
one without
the top of the sheet-which is either erroneous or reGrs to the width of the entire lot nity." In contrast to the interior, the exterior Pfesents a neutral asPect:
surrounding urban context' Only in the cortile-whtch
owned by the Grimani-was aclded later. It is worth mentioning in this context that forr,r, prud"rltly adjusted to the
Vettor Grimani was a collector of architectural rnodels: as a matter of fact, we know i, "dirorgrrri.i and the cumulative result of different interventions-are Sansovinian
that he preservecl the models for the Palazzo at San Samuele and two of the projects suggestions legible, albeit as fragments'
for San Francesco della Vigna.21 interior "alla moderna"'
The distinction between a faade "alla Veneziana" and an
to respect for his
In our reconstruction, the Grancl Canal faade is about 32 meters wide (25 meters which rhe Duke of Milan had previously asked Benedetto Ferrini
between the rusticatecl corners, plus 7 that correspond to the garden wa11). Conse- San Samuele, was in any case a pragmatic course to
palace at
follow for the most in-
(Plate rz4). Sansovino's
qtrently, the cortli neasure 9 x r5 meters, and 9 x 9 meters, respectively. Similarly, novative architectural projects in Venice until about r53r-3226

zzB 229
 VENETI,AN EPILOGUE VENETIAN EPILOGUE

r53, for his new palace had

project, conceived in a language that was, in addition to being extraneous to the ve- The property that Giovanni di Lorenzo selected, inJune
embarked on his political
netian context, downright subversive of its mores, therefore constituted a premature been in Dolfrn hands since the fifteenth century. Giovanni
attempt. ,\s such it was destined to be abandoned. The virtuosity of the Florentine career in r5r4; in r5z5 he married chiara di Andrea
vendramin. sauio di Trraferma in
artist thus encountered a first obstacle, symptomatic of a clash between mentalities 1528, he served, successively, as prouueditore generale
in Campo' mayor of Verona' captain
extraordinary to Charles
and cultures. The developments that follow permit further reflection on the historical of padua, head of the Co,rn"il of the Ten, and plenipotentiary
and cultural initiatives
significance of this episode. v. 11 in all, he seems ro have been integrated in the political
Gritti and his circ1e.33 The old buildings were located
promoted by Doge Andrea
and opening onto the
z. A Hybrid: The Palazzo of Giovanni Dolfin at San Salvador on an economically strategic site' Fronting the Grand Canal
mercantile and commercial
campo San Salvador, they were in direct contact with the
"The drawings and models I have made for a palace for Serenissimo Manin are area between the Riva del Carbon and the Fondaco
dei Tedeschi near the Rialto'34
nearing completion-" wrote Giannantonio Selva to his friend Canova onJanuary A tax record of that Lorenzo Dolfin, Giovanni's father, resided in half of
1514 states
at 27ryz ducats; the other
3r, 179427 -" Given its highly irregular plan and the need to preserve a portion of the a casa da statio atsan Salvador, whose value was estimated
Furthermore, this docu-
earlier building, these have required considerable effort. This is due to the Grand Ca- half was rented out to merchants of wood, wine, or wheat.3s
in of a casa
ment shows that Francesco Dolfn de Messer ztanne lived
nal faade, which, in spite of the fact that it is one of the leasr beautiful of Sansovino's the soler
fattic]
works, is regarded by the common people as a masterpiece." Selva continues, adding a and a store fronting the Grand
da statio;the lower mezzado (floor) of that residence
critique of the faade of Palazzo Dolfin (plates r3-r3g). It has "no mezzanine" (*senza conjoined by a building that
Canal were rented out for zo ducats.36 The structures,
mezzaa") and "six arches in the lower story and eight in the upper two." Neverthe- map of I5oo (Plate r4o)'
is lower in heighr, are clearly visible inJacopo de'Barbari's
San Salvador' two elon-
less, he is forced to concede its beauty, "since if I would express a different opinion, I Roughly p"rrll"l, they form a t'apezoidal corte; toward Campo
as far as the struc-
would be considered both insane and presumptuous" ("pazzo e presuntuoso"). gr,. b,ril, masses were separattd by "t alley, which penetrated
near the campo
At the end of the eighteenth century, Selva was not alone in expressing a negative trrr" thrt defned the corte. The angular disposition of the buildings
judgment on the palace he was about to renovate, an opinion that Vasari and other is another factor that must be taken into account when
trying to reconstruct the pre-
This reconstruction
sources attribute to Sansovino himsell Lorenzo Urbani refers to a statement made by existences on the site before the sixteenth-century intervention'
Padre Benedetto Buratti-a friend of Doge Manin-defending the sixteenth-century can be completed by analyztngmeasurements taken by
the Giudici del Piovego on
measured three and a half
work.28 However, an unpublished manuscript, dated March ,
ryy,which was Sirnone May g, rs:o' the corner of tt e old calle dell',orco, which
"r r passo wide, with
Stratico's report on the state of the palace, coauthored by Buratti, is anything but com- feet wide, there was a "fondamenta vecchia" (old embankment)
plimentary to Sansovino.2e After having cited Filippo Rossi's survey of ,,colonne"; the public embankments on the Grand Canal were of irregular widths (9%
ry75, another
survey of october r7gt, and inspections in February and March ryg3, the Stratico- feet, rol/z feet, to/+feet).37 From this it is apparent that
works relating to the new pal-
Buratti report suggested that the faade was "adapted to another building that existed ace concerne d the riue iprrr.d walkways alongside canals), as the measurements taken
on the same site" and advised buttressing the walls to counteract the "projection of on May ro, r54o, indicate'38
superimposing Sel-
the corner and middle piers.":o Their conclusions ran as follows: "without the de- By projecting the De' Barbari map in plan (see Plate r49) and
molition of the entire structure, and an entirely new design, it will be irnpossible to ,rt rr.,r.y of PalazzoDolfin onto it (BMC cl. lfl,Qz8, see Plate r39), we can iden-
build on this site a palace equipped with all the amenities required by a noble and siz- that were reutilized in the new palace and the site con-
tify the archite.tural elements
the old buildings extended
able famiiy, including fitting and ample views, all of which go rogether and which are strainrs thar conditioned its design. Despite the fact that
palace's salone
necessary for such a building.":t to the edge of the Grand canal, it is evident that the sixteenth-century
For its Part, contemporary historiography has consistently overlooked the six- Their dimensions were
passantiol..rpi.d the spaces left free by the parallel structures.
incorporated some of
teenth-century structure. Rodolfo Gallo and Deborah Howard have uncovered the therefore fixed a prio.i, while the wings of sansovino's palace
prinrary archival sources; Foscari has reviewed the patron's cursus honprunt; Hubala, the walls of the old buiidings to the sides. At any rate,
it is clear that the oblique alley
new access point:
Howard, ancl Wolters have suggested interesting critical hypotheses: yet the palace it- near Campo San Salvador was used as connector for Sansovino's
self has not yet received an adequate reading.32 Let us therefore return to the clocu- the anditim [corridor], whose existence is corroborated
by eighteenth-century sur-
mentation relating to the project in an attempt to expose the motivations of an archi- veys execute b.fo.. the entire area was reorganized.
incorporated the small preexist-
tectural "text" that is clearly singular. ing structures.

230 23f
 VENETI.N EPILOGUE VENETIAN EPILOGUE

are unusually contradic-

It is due, therefore, to the reuse of existing walls that the palace's internal structure picture, Francesco Sansovino's and Giorgio Vasari's accounts
canal-after that
was constrained to adopt multiple irregularities; but it is dificult to tell how much to.y. Fr"...sco recalls that the frst "modern" palace on the Grand
Corner' However,
of the eighteenth-century situation was due to those portions of the palace added a of ih. lor.dan-belonged to Giovanni Dolfn, followed byPalazzo
built was that of
ter the sixteenth century. It is evident, however, that Sansovino located the court by in the Giuntine edition of the Liues "the first palace that Sansovino
aligning it with the rear wall of the internal faade of the old building berween rhe Messer Giorgio cornaro (. . .) Inspired by this, another
member of the Dolfn famlly
two alleys and the Campo. In fact, the square of the cortile cuts across the structures a smaller palace from Sansovino. It was highly praised
and quite beau-
commissioned
that are parallel to the Canal, forcefully inserting itself, with marginal irregularities, tiful, and cost him thirty millio't scudi'"4s
into the existing architectural fabric. To this a fact thathr, .r""p"d notice until now should be added. In the aforemen-
other things' attests to the
As was the case withPalazzo Gaddi, Sansovino was thus forced to respect and re- tioned Life of Sansouino, wtittenbout r539-which' among
the Dogea.-Vasari states that
use preexisting parts of older buildings: economic considerations placed limits on his existencJ of a p.oe.t byJacopo for the new residence of
activities, thereby issuing a challenge to his power of invention. To be sure, this was a ,,rhe
large *rit oi th. ilir..i.ordia, which was built up to the
frst floor, is his work
well-established tradition in Venice.3e (i.e., Sansovino's);so isPalazzo corner, and the model of the
new greatPalazzo com-
is cited, while Palazzo
Clearl one of the patron's objectives ws to exploit older structures with the ex- missioned by the Signoria." It is signifcant that Palazzo corner
was constructed
press purpose of creating a palatial residence that was au courant with the stylistic Dolfin is not. Although it is likelyhat the Palace of Zorzetto Corner
general public by t539,
choices legitimized by the renovation of Piazza San Marco. Yet it is also evident that at alate date, the project was, according to vasari, visible to the
this process was subordinated to a program aimed at the economicrcvitalizatron of an assertion that, moreover, Aretino confrms. vasari's
silence onPalazzo Dolfn is not
one of the city's most exclusive neighborhoods (one should note, in this connection, easy to interpret; however, his account does not refer
to all of Sansovino's buildings
of the two pal-
that as early as April 29, 1539, Giovanni Dolfin spent roo ducats to renovate portions that were under construction at the time. The fact that the planning
of the building thar were being rented).a0 aces was more or less simultaneous, on the other
hand, authorizes a contrast that takes
attitudes of his vari-
The project immediately mer wirh dificulties. on
January rz, 1537 (in the vene- into account the flexibility of Sansovino's poetics and the diverse
sources may be resolved by
tian calendar), the owners of the buildings near the Riva-Alvise Bembo, pietro Dan- ous patrons. Contradiction, b.t*".n the different textual
and Vasari to the plan-
dolo, and Lunardo da Molin-raised objections to the new proposal, contesting its suggesting that Francesco Sansovino referred to the realization,
extension to the Grand Canal, the reorganization of the
fondanrcnta, and the bridge it ning, of Palazzo Cotner.
was residing in a por-
implied. The conflict was promptly resolved by the Prouueditori di Comun. OnJanuary It is certain, however, that inJanuary 1538 Giovanni Dolfn
for properties at Fi-
2r the construction license was granted, "con espresso ordine chel sia tenuto degua- tion of his old palace, for which we possess a deed of purchase
stando el ponte et fonclamenta far retornar el tutto nel pristino stato suo" (with the measured the "proprieta noviter fab-
nale.aT On May ro, r54o, the Giudici del Piouego
on 'tpril 15, 1545,
express order that the bridge and the paved embankment that have been destroyed ricata" (buildings recently constructed) on the Riva del Carbon;aB
will be returned to their pristine state).ar In all likelihood, Dolfin exploited rhe ex- "where the Magnifcent
the same authorities measured the lot on Rio de' coffaneri
istence of the "fondamenta vecchia con colonne" (old paved embankment with col- Messer ZtranDolfnintends to build once more;"a'byJuly
2r, 1547' construction ap-
states, "La rnia casa da statio
umns), revealed in r53, in order to demonstrate that his property already impinged peafs to have been completed, given that Giovanni's will
on a part of the area that the portico was intended to fill. The exrension of the build- a torno sia conditionadi e non
de San Salvador, con le botteghe e tutto qlresto stabele
ing to the Grand Canal was thus due to a concession that was by no means ordinary. si possa divider salvo in due parti et cosi la debiano galder
et debbia andar di heredi
its ground
The facts we have gathered so far permit us to imagine that Sansovino formulated in heredi, condicionad . . .i (My residence at San Salvador, along with
^ except in two parts
his design at the end of ry37 in April of the following year, the old buildings were de- level shops and everything that surrounds it, cannot be divided
molished "et da brieve son per ruinar" (and will soon be cleared).a2 Dating the project not be divided up, so that it can be passed down from one heir
to an-
and thus must
presents an interesting problem in other senses as well, especially when seen in light of other. . .)so
questions implied by the design process of Palazzo Corner. Deborah Howard suggests The plan is not without interest: this is due, among other things,
to its indepen-
a date after 1545 for the execution ofthe latter, basing her argument on the protracted dence from Venetian and Roman models (Plate I39). It is
only in the faade, which
of superposed orders, that is it possible to detect a distant echo of the
affair of Giorgio corner's will.a3 on November 2c., rs37, pietro Aretino seems, how- faade
consists
ever, to reGr to a model that he saw, when speaking of the "fondamenta dei superbi articulations of Palazzo Rucellai in Florence, Palazzo Della Rovere
in Savona, and Pa-
tetti cornari" (embankment of the proud corner palace).aa To further complicate the Tazzo Loredan (Plates r38, r37). Public and private are
mediated by the waterfront por-
 VENETIAN EPILOGUE
VENETIAN EPIIOGUE

loggia framed by pilasters opens on

tico, which has an arcade permitting pedestrian trafftc, while the large halls stacked novation in the Venetian context. A four-arched
ground.floor arch, In this way a
within the piano nobili, together with the flanking bedrooms, extend to the Grand the side entrnce, which is on axis with the second
bays of the cortile mark the cen-
Canal. This solution was not a complete novelty in Venice: it had already been ad- principle of correspondence is maintained: the four
ir^l p*tiof th. *"t.. front faade,while the organism
with a single loggia recalls the
opted in the rear faade of the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, where Celestro, and sub-
to judge
sequently Sante Lombardo, integrated a portico and top floor solution fronting the solution adopted in Sangallot Palazzo Baldassini. It is impossible, however,
Grand Canal. Besides, small palaces supported by arcades re common enough in per- the cortilefaades by using the visentini survey. In the two perspective drawings in the
be-
spective and scenographic representations of the sixteenth centuries. On the left side R.I.B.A. (McAndrew, talh,+) (Plate r4z), arches supported by columns are inserted
rough pilaste^. y", ,h" entire complex could
just as easily derive from an adap-
of a drawing of such a scene, drawing lJ2g1-A, a two-story building appears that in rween
of Visentini's survey is evident
many respects is comparable both to a Serlian model and to Palazzo Do1fin.51 How- tation of preexisting structures. The fanciful character
imposed upon the layout of
ever, the form of the latter was a direct result of the patron's intentions: Giovanni in the inaccurate regulari zationof the plan that hai been
the palace (a distortion that is especially apparent
in the IAUV [Architecture School of
Dolfn tried to maximize the economic potentials of the Riva del Carbon by display-
should also take into account the
ing an unprecedented architectural "machine" on the main Venetian waterway. Yet the university of venice] version).ss However, one..osservando'il
in the 1793 rePort: solo Cortile da niun
the palace did not have its main entranceways under the portico, contrary to what has severe critique Selva
"*p,.,,"d
been generally assumed: the inventory of ro3 makes no mention of them, and the Professore i prro opt" dello stesso Autore" (if we only look at the cortile no
"..d.,.
professor [i.e., expert] *o,rid believe that it was designed by the same architect);s
and
Stratico report rules out the possibility that it was Sansovino's original intention to
process of reformulation and re-
put them there.s2 even Selva considers its form to be due to a diffcult
parameters of patronage' It ap-
The main entrance mentioned in the inventory opened onto the alley oriented to- arrangement. This allows us to recognize the cultural
"alla romana" palace that did not' for all
ward San Salvador (compare the portal survey by Visentini: McAndrew, 3f 5).Jacopo pears that Giovanni Dolfin commissioned an
a cortile was suficient, and he did
Sansovino combined the Venetian "typr" with the Roman one, placing the stores and that, betray venetian custom: in his eyes, the idea of
shops beneath the portico and shifting the rear portion of the nucleus formed by cor- notseemtobeexcessivelyconcernedwithitsformalcoherence.sT
anditum (corridor) (Plate r39),
tile, attdituttr, and large stair. In this wa faade and entrance were clear separated. In Sansovino,s hand is rcognizable in the oblique
is joined to the square sPace
contrast to contemporaneous models, the main portal and the staircase nucleus were which, leading to the frst bay at the tear of the cortile,
between the two piers be-
located on the side ofthe building reserved for the service areas. in front of the stair; orr. ,ho.rld also note the connection
In a perceptive analysis, Deborah Howard has recognized an afnity between the ,*..r, the loggia and the orthogonal arcade, a detail that seems to distort aPetvzzian
resolved, insofar as it
organism of Palazzo Dolfin and that of the Mint.s3 But the structure with shops in- motif. Rt leasr in plan, the reduced cortile seems to be elegantly
and to reinforce the
serted into its faade, and an entrance shifted to the side, a corridor running through exploits an equal number of bays to insert studied asymmetries
the building, and a cortile tangent to it-the model of the Mint-has a Roman origin. spatial continuity suggested by the "pieno in asse'"
venetian
Sansovino's organism bears a striking resemblance to the one shown in the Mellon It is clear, th.rr, ihrt the organism is a contamination of a traditional
the faade with shop$' An analo-
Codex, fg. 8r, which is probably copy of a project of Raphael's for Palazzo Alber- srrucrure and Roman elements (..g., th. cortile and
gous contamination characterizes the articulation
of the Grand canalfaade'
tini; moreover, if it is correct, Bruschi's hypothesis regarding Bramante's Palazzo Ca-
pilasters' acts as a
prini (which contained the shops of the Ptazza Scossacavalli and had an entrnce on A portico with six axes, consisting of arches framed by Doric
by Ionic and corinthian
Via Alessandrina) would indicate an authoritative typological source for both Raphael foundation for rwo piani noltli, whose rhythm is generated
solely on the side bays: in the
and Sansovino.5a lnPalazzo Dolfin, both the need to orient the main entrance toward columns. continuity of vertical elements is maintained
nobili,a doubled rhythm, which indicates the presence
of the saloni behind them'
Campo San Salvador and the obligatory walkway under the portico implied depar- piani
tures from the models just cited, even if the design method pursued when formulat- corresponds to the central bays of the portico'
157) is a drastic proposal in
ing the organism as a whole is indebted to these precedents. The waterfront display of three classical orders (Plate
seem to reflect the patron's
On the other hand, Venetian tradition is fully respected in the saloni passanti the Venetian context: yet again this cultural choice would
the rhythmic discontinuity
flanked by a combination of small and large rooms: the core of the residence-in political orientation and artistic tastes. On the other hand,
of the vertical elements implies fdelity to traditional canons.
,\t this point, our analy'
contrast with the project for Vettor Grimani-relies on a Venetian "usanza" (custom)
sis must concentrate o.r rpe.if. details so as to
pinpoint the models that the architect
that would subsequently be criticized by Daniele Barbaro in his Vitruvius of r55
(VI, r7e). drew upon.
'lhe cortile "alla romana" (Roman courtyard) (Plate r39) represents yet another in- TheduplicationofthebayshasbeenseenasaquotationofaBramanteanandLom-

235
234
 VENETIAN EPILOGUE VENETIAN EPILOGUE

and avoid, the placement of a column or a pier on a void' I do

not apProve of this
bard themess reworked by Bon and Celestra in the Procuratie Vecchie. We should not
of Pompeio
fail to mention, well, the multisectioned windows with columns on axes that char-
as practice either; even though I have seen something similar in the portico
license if any one desires to use it)'62
acterize the pani nobili of the Lombard faade of Palazzo Contarini delle Figure. in Ro-., though in the Doric; I have taken this
It would be risky to read these words as a justifcation of Sansovino's work'
Besides,
It is probable that this particular license was legitimizedin Sansovino's eyes by a
other anrique monuments authorized the solution adopted in the Ca'Dol{n
faae,
noted antique exemplum: the so-called Crypta Balbi (Plate r43), or Porticus Pom-
Baptistery'
pei;se Bramante himself "reinscribed" this monument in his project for the choir of not to mention a precedent dear to Sansovino: the interior of the Florentine
another building that
Sant'Ambrogio."o It is worth recalling, at any rate, that on the terraferma there is

makes an even more obvious, if only partial, allusion to the model

of the crypta Balbi
It is almost certain, however, that in Ca'Dolfin reference to the antique model is
of Pompey]: Michele Sanmicheli's palace for Giovanni
due ro an obligatory condition. The six arcades ofthe portico reflect a reasonable scan- falso known as the Porticus
im-
sion of the faade length-which cannot be modi{ed: a different number of arches Ro.r."l" at Rovigo63 (Plate r44). Sanmicheli transcribes not only the double bay
would have caused virtually insurmountable compositional and functional problems. pinging on the portico, but also the trabeation with the guttae and suppressed
"r.hed Porticus of Pom-
Besides, as already seen, preexisting structures make the position of the salone pas- frieze thatare characteristic features of the ancient monument. The
Younger' Raphael, Giulio
sante a necessity, thereby establishing a coherent relation between the four-sectioned pey also atrracred rhe attention of Antonio da Sangallo the
and BaldassarePeruzzi..a The suggestion of the
"pienoin asse"-a motif
windows and the arcades beneath them. The "pieno in asse" is the result of this ar- i.o*rno,
treated in the same way s erudite license-was taken up, then,
in two works that are
rangement: it does not seem valid to infer, from this Gature, homage to adjacent
incommensurate with one another. Indeed, inthePalazzo of Giovanni
Dolfin, the Ro-
structures belonging to the Bembo family (with whom, as we recall, Giovanni Dolfin
man model is cited indirectl and is inserted into a context that only preserves those
had had a legal dispute).61 In any case, having ruled out the possibility that the palace
features that serve to legitimize the solution adopted in the central
bays.
had a double portal that opened onto the portico, a possible indebtedness to Venetian
on the pilasters that
Gothic models become irrelevant (even if the elimination of the perspectival axis is It is signifcant that two orders of half-columns are superposed
"heretical" scheme was utilized
without doubt a characteristically "Gothic" feature). set the rhythm of the portico arcades (Plate r37). This
seems
This notwithstanding, the pai of the central sector allows the architect to allude by Raphael in the San Lorenzo faade project. In this case, however, Sansovino
to rework a Venetian precedent: Mauro Codussi's palace for Andrea
Loredan' Finally'
to multiple models that are synthesized, concealed, and reworked. lfhe "pieno in asse"
reveals a debt to Brunelleschi, not to mention Bramante, and in this case the refer- the projection of the into the two centralbays introduces a subtle am-
salonepassafite
bigrrrty. Substituting specular symmetry for classical symmetry, this motif
privileges
ence to the antique is assimilated as a "Latin" translation of a Venetian phrase, which,
the task of
mong other antecedents, was legitimized by the Palazzo Ducale. Florence, Rome, and ,."dirrg that harmonizes with the circulation path beneath the portico:
" four-
Venice thus engage in an unexpected dialogue. ,rrrrrg..rring the suggestion put forward by the ground level is assigned to the
However, it is significant that Sansovino does not reGr to the contracted Doric tra- sectioned windows in the piani nobili'

beation of the Crypta Balbi-a motif that he adopted, on the other hand, without the
guttae fotnd in the first cortile of Palazzo Gaddt (Plates r43, tz9, 4o).
'\ clue regarding Sansovino's design method is furnished by a drawing and a pas-
sage from Serlio's Regole Generali of ry37 a date significantly close to the years when
Jacopo was working on the design of the Venetian palace. Serlio's project (C. LV il-
lustrates the application of the Corinthian order. Like Ca' Dolfin, owing to the pres-
ence of shops under the lower portico, among other reasons, it is distinguished by
its handling of the orders, its use of engaged columns on the ground floor, the por-
tico with groin vaults, and the structural division into two floors. To be sure, in this
case, the entire apparatus is of interest-a design that the author feels the need to jus-
tify: "E benche tutti i buoni Architettori dannano, e fuggono il porre una colonna, o
pilastro sopra un vano, il che non lodo ancho io; nondimeno per haver io veduto un
simile suggietto al portico di Pompeio in Roma, ma d'opera Dorica perio; io ho preso
tal'ardire se alcuno volesse di tal cosa servirsi" (And since all good architects condemn,
exactly to
CAN wE BE SURE, however, that the sixteenth-century faade corresponded
side bays. From the
Sansovino's project? Our doubt is justifed by the rhythm of the
standpoint of ,h. ,rrrrrparency between interior and exterior, the aforementioned
ir-
there
regularity in symmetri cal organ zatron would seem to be warranted. Moreover,
equal
is another reason: the decision to make the two bays fronting the side canal
to those on the Grand Canal satisfies the need for continuity at the corners' Yet
what makes sense in the abstract creates dificulties when translated into the
all'antica
language: metrical rigor enters into conflict with the flexibility necessitated
by the
..ryp..'t The cogency of this analysis becomes all the more evident when we recall that
Saruovino, as we have seen already, was forced to respect the width of
the preexisting
walls when inserting the saloni.The result of this is maneuver is a rigid tripartition of
the faade, which makes the portions occupied by the salette identical
to those occu-

236
 VENETIAN EPILOGUE
pied by the salon. Moreover, the alignment of pilasters and halcolumns, recuperated
along the sides of the windows in the central cluster, has rhe effect of isolating the lat-
eral windows raised on thin pedestals. This contradicts the association of column and
pedestal adopted in the central cluster itself. In other words: coherence between inte-
rior and exterior is achieved at the price of a dissonant variation in the spacing of the
halcolumns, which become accessory, if not incongruous, elements in the side por-
tions of the faade. This aspect of the palace stands out all the more when we realize
that the coherence in question is anything but rigorous. The internal structures do not
correspond to the half-columns articulating the side bays: their extraneous character
makes the rhythmic discontinuity all the more paradoxical. Finally, one should recall
that the side windows (which arc r.4 merers wide) let in more lighr when compared
with the central perture (which is r.z5 meters wide).
t this point the different handling of the balconies of rhe frst and secon, piani
nobili needs to be analyzed. The isolated upper balconies correspond to a continuous
lower balcony. Furthermore, the lower balcony is supported by the halcolumn bases
and thus restates a rhythm set by the width of the minor intercolumniations: the
small piers inserted between.the sequence of six balconies are on axis with the iso-
lated windows.
Let us compare the solution employed inPalazzo Dolfin with the one adopted in
Palazzo Corner in light of the hypothesis that the two were designed ar abour the
same time. ln Palazzo Corner, Sansovino utilized a device that permitted the simul-
taneous resolution of the rhythmic constancy of the halcolumns (which in this case
are doubled) and the cenrral salone. Here as well the underlying theme of the compo-
sition is the fusion of the all'anticalanguage with the persisting Venetian type of the
salone passante.
The seven axes of the faade thus permit more coherent hierarchical relationship
between the central parti and the wings; this differentiation, however, is not entrusted
to variations in the bays. Insread, Jacopo plays on the widths of the arched windows,
which are placed on small, independent piers.s This allows him to widen rhe open-
ings in the sector corresponding to the salone and, conversely, to contract them at the
sides, leaving a short section of wall remaining between pedestals and halcolumns.66
In addition, the balconies underline the "diversity" of the central tripartition; decora-
tion is thus given the task of dissimulating this device. ,\n inattentive observer would
notice nothing more than the unified impression created by the solemn cadence of
the binary elements; a more expert eye would appreciate the exception surreptitiously
introduced into the composition.
Given the smaller dimensions of the Palazzo Dolfin bays, such a device could not
have been adopted. Nor could the architect arrange the halcolumns in pairs in or-
der to reduce the width of the side bays. A further contrasr might be of interest. In
Villa Garzoni at Pontecasale, Sansovino triumphally marks the central salorrc inthe fa-
ade: the astylar wings are combined with a double loggia, which recalls the Theater
of Marcellus. The arched windows, however, do not stand out as isolated units in the
48
VENETIAN EPILOGUE
wall: the band placed at the height of the imposts connects these windows, which
rurn the corner of the building. It is signifcant that Visentini felt it necessary to add
this element in his survey of Palazzo Dolfin.67
Given what we have seen so far, one begins to suspect that the faade of the Vene-
tian palace is the result of a "corrupted" Sansovinian model. Jacopo might have
ini-
tial thought of employing a uniform composition in accordance with the proce-
dure used inPaLazzo corner, formulating a structure relying even more explicitly
on
T-shaped
the Crypta Balbi. However, this solution would have registered nonexistent
as the interior
saloni on the exterior. If the solution that was adopted is logical as far
The "Roman-
is concerned, it is the least correct in terms o{the all'anticalanguage.
ism" implied by the ostentatious superposition of the orders ends up being contra-
dicted. The Ionic order can nevertheless be compared to the ones on the faades
of
elements of
the Libreria Marciana and the Ca' Corner, even if many of the constituent
all to
the second floor may lead us to doubt Sansovino's paternity. This applies above
the corinthian capitals: these differ from one another, and some are even out
of date,
with a single line of leaves and s-shaped scrolls. Even more glaring is the lack of cor-
brackets'
respondence between the lions' heads inserted into the upper frieze and the
con-
Finally, there is a dtail rulateur: the capstones of the side window arches have
cave abacus, with a bracket placed beneath. This motif, which is foreign
to Sansovino,
was used by Mauro Codussi (see the interior of San Zaccaria and the faade
of Palazzo
Loredan) and was revived by Scarpagnino in the sixteenth century in the faade of the
Scuola Grande di San Rocco. Hence we have enough evidence to suggest that
the sec-
ond piano nobile o{ Palazzo Dolfinis in fact a rather hasty interpretation of Sansovino's
desitn, executed by workmen under the supervision of a traditionalYenetian proto'
The corner solutions are even less convincing. At their extremes, toward the Grand
Canal, one fnds an incongruous association of pier and halcolumns: the corner
piers are sheathed in fourths of columns, while the attached capitals are forced
into
,n urr"pp"tizing agglutination. Here as well, we encounter a solution characteristic
of ffteenth-century Venice: compare Palazzo Corner-Spinelli and PaTazzo Zorzi-San
Severo. In the Roman context, Giulio Romano adopted a similar solution
for the cor-
ners of the Villa Lante loggia: this, however, belonged to a diverse cultural milieu that
had its o\Mn sense of poetic license. Furthermore, any attempt to attribute the
awk-
ward corner projection of Palazzo Dolfin to Sansovino is unconvincing: the upper
piers are oft^-.ris with the lower pilasters. The solecisms in the bays facing the Calle
dell'Orca and the rio arc equally surprising: the Doric trabeations are flattened; the
ter-
(but
minal mutules of the Doric order extend to the outermost portions of the palace
on the
the added parts are nonetheless visible); the corner piers have similar extensions
piani nobili, and are accompanied by the insertion of a sculpted pinecone in the
Ionic
volutes; the lower pilasters re attenuated so that only capitals and bases emerge from
the planes of Istrian srone; and the end pilasters on the piani nobili are poorly aligned'
ninally, the Doric trabeation on the alley is not supPorted by the pilasters but is con-
nected instead by stone segments that are displayed as residues of the architrave-an
239
 VENETIAN EPILOGU VENETIAN EPILOGUE

improvised solution due to the ample width of the arch,

which permits access ro rhe of regularity" par excellence to explore transgressive moments not easily contained
portico (2.8 meters).
within the parameters of acceptable license. WithPalazzo Dolfin, however, it becomes
These solecisms might be described as revelarory symptoms. This becomes all the
clear that we are confronted by something quite different: namely, a cultural conflict
more apparent when we realize that other details indicate 'W'e
a construction process that that has not been completely dissimulated. are not far from a situation that Dan-
escaped the architect's control. The Doric capitals
of the left corner have a shared iele Barbaro's Commentarii and Palladio's "usanza nuova" attempted to comprehen-
abacus, as does a similar design by Sangallo inthe
cortle o{palazzoFarnese; the ones sively explicate.ue
fronting the Grand canal, however, have abacuses that intersect
at right angles. These,
however, are not the only inconsistencies: the portico facingthe
Grand Canal is ir-
regular, probably because of the need to respect preexisting 3. Palazzo Corner at San Mau rizio
wails. The external ar-
cades (which are imperfe*ly aligned with each
other) are, frJm reft to right, 2.6,2.75, When compared with Vettor Grimani's palace, the palace commissioned by Gio-
z'8, 2.6, and 2.65 merers high, withour taking the offhand
insertion of stairway into vanni Dolfn shows that Sansovino experienced a change of attitude. ,\ willingness
account.
to listen to the Venetian context replaced his initial deafness to its languages. To be
The list of solecisms is impressive. It is impossible to believe
that this summa of sure, this newfound ability to attend to idioms foreign to his own is "disturbed";this
"errors," in which attitudes and cultural choices
characteristi c of proti,,sine scientia,, is why the desired synthesis between tradition and modernity led to the ambiguous
(without theorerical knowledge) are evident, can be ascribed
to Sansovino. compromise we have just analyzed. Yet this quandary seems to have been overcome
Such incongruities are presumably the resurt of an unsuccessfur
compromise: a in Jacopo's most impressive Venetian palace designed for the Corner family at San
failed attempt to combine the classical language with
venetian idioms. Hence, the con- MaurizioTo (Plate r48).
crete results of this situation-rough approximations,
ad hoc solutions-are due to the No constriction whatever seems to weigh downPalazzo Corner, which dominates
trial-and-error approach of local masters.
'We the Grand Canal with superb triumphalism. It has often been noted that the only par-
are obliged to inquire into the role thar Giovanni Dolfin played in all of this.
allel for the a solo of the palace is Sanmichell'sPalazzo Grimani at San Luca:1l taking
As far as patronage is concerned, it has been pointed out that, on the whore, this comparison as a starting point, we must try to explore the reasons why the patron
the venetian patriciate displayed authoritarian attirudes
and, generally speaking, was wanted to introduce such a bold rLrpture into the continuity of the main waterway of
quick to intervene in the design pocess. when criticizing
tlhe entrance to Sanmi_ the city.
chell's Palazzo della Podest in verona, vasari described
it -s being "rather short, es- A well-known structure previously occupied the site. This was a remarkable Gothic
pecially since it lacks a base, and is quite wide because of
the doublirrg of th. columns: palace-the residence of the powerful procurator Giorgio Corner-brother of the
but this is the way thar Messer Giovanni Dolfin wanred it.,,68
which leads us ro ask: Queen of Cyprus - which was destroyed by fre on August 16, t532.72 Sanudo attested
to what extent could Dolfin have intervened to modify
Sansovino's model? It is likely to the magnificence of this palace. Its exceptional character reflected that of its owner,
that the faade's "Venetian characteristics" owe much to
the patrician patron. If this is who had purchased it from the MalombrafarrlLtly for zo,ooo ducats and spent another
jn fact the case, one would have
to conclude that in the terrajerruahe preftrred Roman ro,ooo on remodeling and redecorating.T3 In t5r7 he acquired a cortile with eleven
"triumphalism," revealing afacies hippocratica in
venice p.of... This can be described houses, with attached property in the adjacent area.Ta
as the attitude of an innovator who nonetheless
respects tie imago urbis. Descending, on his mother's side, from n ancient line of Byzantine emperors,
The fact that many of the details of the palace can be
associated wirh local archi- Giorgio Corner was one of the most powerful patricians in the Republic. In r5oo
tects who were not under sansovino's immediate supervision
shows that the patron he bought a cardinal's hat for his brother Marco for r5,ooo ducats; and although this
utilized the model designed by the Florentine artist while
enrrusting its execurion ro weakened the family's influence upon Venetian political life, he enjoyed more pres-
proti and stonemasons willing to cater to his desires and
economic needs alone. tige in the Roman Curia as a result. His son Francesco was also elected cardinal, while
A final observation might be made: even if we do not
take into account hypotheses his illegitimate son Andrea became Archbishop of Split.75 The Corner were thus self-
concerning design ideas that were distorted during
construction, the palace still reg- proclaimed Papalists, though quite loyal to the Serenissima, even after the division of
isters a characteristic dificulty. The synthesis it tried
to bring about between the ar- the clan into the three branches of San Maurizio, San Poli, and San Cassiano; the heirs
chitectural cultures of Rome and venice in the Grand
canal laadeended up burden_ of Giorgio (who died in ry27) continued to produce bishops and cardinals.Tc Both
ing the project with unresolved and incoherenr episodes.
The flexibility permiled by Doge Andrea Gritti and the papal Nuncio Aleandro had good reason to be displeased
the Gothic idiom in early-fifteenth-cenrury venetian
paraces obliged the ,,language with the Corner, since, along with the Grimani and Pisani families, they enjoyed a

240 24r
 VENETIAN EPILOGUE VENETIAN EPILOGUE

palaces that we have already exam-

monopoly on the "entire ecclesiastical hierarchy" (l'intero ecclesistico) of Venice.77 This Evident as well are analogies with the structures of
especially to the relation between Palazzo Corner
and
remark is significant: it establishes a direct link between two rival families that both ined. This observarion
"ipli., of an itinerary interrupted by
acted as Sansovino's patrons. vettor Grimani's pdr.",-in which the concept persists
Given these facts, it is surprising neither that, as reported by Sanudo,78 the fire case that an elongated ground floor atrium
a series of barriers. However, it is also the
of August rJ32 was a shock to venice, nor that the councir of Ten had accepted, in replaces the frst cortile thatappears in the Museo
correr drawing: in accordance with
thereby compromising the coher-
part, the request of Giacomo and Francesco Corner regarding the legitimation of the venetian tradition, , pr.r.rr.. replaces an absence,
dowry of the queen of cyprus: in September the brothers were given ence of the perspectival invention that had enjoyed great success inPalazzo Gaddi'
3o,ooo ducats
arcade and preceded by a semi-
for the reconstruction of a palace that was anything but unimportant for the "decoro" For its part, rhe vesribule enlivened by the triple
of the city; inJune rj33 the measurements were given to the Giudici del piovego.,ts octagonal waterfront staircase "romanizes" the
traditional entrance to venetian ca-
at a go-degree angle to the right side of rhe cortile
adds
already mentioned, however, it is probable that the complex legal tangle of the inheri- nal residences; its repetition
plate t+S): the same time' the sides
tance delayed the start of construction until rs+S.i') At the same time, our observa_ an unexpectedly elegant note to the plan ee ltlateral walls of the androne:
the
tions regarding this design, which was formulated in the late r53os, retain all of their of the vestibule fronting the canal are nrrower than
structures that Antonio Diedo
validity: it surely underwent a long process of elaboration as construction proceeded; a maneuver probably irit.nded to exploit preexisting
lateral walls of the tpper salone
a few incoherent moments, perhaps, can be ascribed to the delayed execution. would subsequently criticize.Diedo observed that the
There can be no doubt, however, that the majestic mass of the palace has much in are supporrei Uy tfr. ground floor vault;8l and
it has even been suggested recently that
common with the language Sansovino developed in the r53os, especially for Libreria Sansovino originally planned a T-shaped salone
("a crozola"), and that the "error" is
Marciana and the Mint: in this sense, the forms reserved for public interventions were due to a subsequent modication.82 It is hard to
believe, however, that a solution as
with corner's level of so-
transferred-with an arrogance foreign to ca'Dolfin-to a private building. The im- out of date as this one would have been offered to a patron
plications of this maneuver were probably not lost on his contemporaries. It has been phistication. At anyrate, there is awhole range
of Renaissance examples of walls that
not disturb the architects
recalled, and rightly so, that the corner family considered itself "a cornu regum
cog- h"ld up fictiveiy by lower-level vaults. This solution did
".. seems illegitimate to use
nominata": the palace speaks of this claim to royal status. This was also quite clear of the Cancelle..a,peluzzr, or Giulio Romano: it therefore
to Francesco Sansovino, whose words encapsulate an entire program: ca' corner, he this argument to supPort risky reconstructions'83
(Plate r5z)' The
writes, This notwithsranding, Sansovino's organism seems ambiguous
treatise writers' the
cortile-apart of the building that was, according to Renaissance
. . . con bellezze, et ornamenti alla Romana, et con inventione accomodata located,
heir of rhe ancient do*r, ^id analogon of the urban forum-is
peripherally
all'uso comune, e capacissimo da una parte per ogni famigria di cardinale, the volume that develops
relegated to the status of an almost secondary element;
et dall'altra per le donne e Signori d'esso, e scuopre, et e scoperto all'intorno
around it seems to be added to a potentially autonomous organism. Yet again, the syn-
perl'alteza sua, le lagune.
thesis of Roman and Venetian *d.1, is the result of a compromise' '\lthough the pa-
family and expressive of the
(. . . is adorned with ornaments in the Roman styre, and inventions conforming rron cerrainly desired a building glorifying the corner
its political and cultural decisions, the modes of life
it privi-
to common clrstom, so that it is well suited for any cardinalt family, on the one Romanism that guided
leged do nor differ significantly from forms typical
of the venetian patriciate' conse-
hand, and, on the other, for the noblewomen and rords that are pa of this clan;
the coherent integration ofthe op-
its height reveals, and is revealed by, the entire lagoon.)s0 quently, Sansovino cncentrated his efforts upon
extended perspectival itinerary, the L
posed alternatives imposed by the program: the
the two mas-
However, even this program was not rcalizedwithout contradictions. As in the case
of for-.d by the ,*"s oipe,tetration, the grand stair used as pivot between
elements, and the correspondences
vettor Grimani's palace, the site was narrow even if its slight irregularity did not per- sive blocks, the equal heights of the constituent
mit bold geometric devices. Instead, as tnPalazzo Dolfin, a typological contamination elements that probably appeared am-
between cortile andfaadeff".ti.r"ly mask those
is apparent. The volume fronting the water is faithful to Venetian modes, biguous even to the architect himself'
adopting as
the compromise at-
it does the tripartite scheme of rooms-salone passante-;a secondvolume added, In a certain sense, the plan of Palazzo corner lends form to
centered around a cortle characterized by diagonal symmetry. In this way another rempted in Palazzo Dolfrn; but the experience of
the Mint is also utilized in some
ac-
cess point opens on the rio, which creates an axis alternative to *"p.rr,.playoftransparenciesopensabreachinthedensematerialityoftherusti-
the principal entrance.

242 243
 VENETIAN EPILOGUE VENETIAN EPILOGUE

cated wall: faade, vestibule, portico, and cortire form a unitary

ticated surface underscores the continuity of vertical elements; subtle incisions
plexus which only the and
exigencies of analysis oblige us to dismember.
barely articulated relie-which act as an autonomous panel-make the central trip-
However, the overall disposition of the faade is unique. Its success in con-
Venice was tych stand out.,\ssonant with this division of the surface, the cornerpilasters are
not immediate; only subsequently was the precedent established by Sansovino united
taken nected to halpilasters; the corner itself takes its shape from rusticated blocks
up by Longhena in Palazzo pesaro andpalazzo Rezzonico. Two superposed on the upper level.
orders- by a thin .dg. ih"t derermines rhe arrangement of the orders
Ionic and Corinthian-surmount a high rusticated basement that is
penetrated by a In all of this, the sudden unfolding of Sansovino's powers of invention is noth-
triple waterfront arcade. The refusal of the giant order is typical of Sansovino.
If it ing short of remarkable. He makes a contracted trabeation-in realit a cornice with
had been employed, it would have further defied Venetian "misura" single fascia-correspond to a synthetic treat-
while underscor- brackets and an architrave consisting of a
ing the patron's royal pretensions with even greater fnality;but this Bramantean
and ment of the rustic order, while the flat segment of the arch imposts, the trabeations
Raphaelesque innovation never appears in Sansovino's oeuvre.
Instead,Jacopo consis- of the lower windows, and the rusticated bosses corresponding to the latter ensure
tently returns to a Hellenistic elegance. It is not likely that, with this
solution, we are the legibility of the alignment. The differentiation of the trabeations is also charac-
confronted by a reference to Bramant e'sPalazzo Caprini: in Sansovino's
palace the dia- terizedby a high degree of sophistication. The Ionic frieze and its balcony, as well as
lectic between rustication and the orders assumes a tonality that is
more atmospheric, the extended Corinthian frieze, respond to the contraction of the lower trabeations'87
less material
thickening of the trabeations themselves as the eye
Jacopo thus obtains a progressive
A hieratic sense of unity dominates the articulation of the great mass of Istrian Lo*, up the surface of the faade. Repetitions are thus overcome by means of subtle
stone, which turns at its flank as if to underscore its imperiousness. and
This emphatic artifices: namely, the aforementioned expedient that indicates the slone passanti
accent is achieved with such persuasiveness that the doubts that
have, at times, been the variations imposed on the horizontal elements'
raised concerning the authorship of the upper level are easily
dismissed. Tommaso Te- That Sansovino took it upon himself to create an inventive tour-de-force is dem-
manza was already aware that no document from the Corner
onsrrated as well by the integrated unit formed by the lower level windows. These
archives could be found are
attesting to interventions by Scamozzi.sa To be sure, certain details,
accompanied by Doric columns arranged in a tabernacle and connected to the
such as the win- ones
dows inserted in the final ftieze, might seem to indicate anorher
above, in the mezzanine, which are flanked by elongated consoles. In their capacity
hand (Alessandro as
vittoria?). Yet, given the elevation of the rusticated zone and the proportions
of the mediating elements, stylized bases are chosen for the lower trabeations: the form of
first floor it is plausible that Sansovino's design corresponds to the completed
palace. the attenuated arches is conditioned by their presence. This solution bestows a fluid
Aretino's aforementioned reference to the "superbi tetti Cornari" offers
indirect con- continuity on the motif of the superposed apertures; for their part, the rusticated
firmation of this hypothesis.
colonnettes with bases that have a single torus provide elegant variants of the ones
In the last analysis, however, we are obliged to
ask if Sansovino did not try to trans- appearing on the Mint faade.
late the Codussian barrier of Palazzo Loredan (in which a triple arcadefronts -
the wa- What stands out most clearly from this rich array of linguistic elements is a sub-
ter as well) into a more up-to-date form (to be sure, only the central
arch serves as an dued (if persistent) reference to Florentine models. The rusticated double pilasters in
entrance). on the other hand, it is beyond doubt that the three high arches rhar are the upper story refer to the precedent of the Torre Borgia by Giuliano da Sangallo;88
inserted into the rustication of Palazzo Corner refer to other,
more modern examples the Doric windows accompanied by a mixtilinear tympanum recall the tabernacle of
such as the entrance of the Palazzo Canossa at Verona and the north palizzo
entry of Donatello's Cavalcanti Annunciation in Santa Croce;se the elongated consoles rework
Te in Mantua.ss In any event, it is certain thatJacopo and Giulio Romano kept abreast
comparable moti in Michelangelo. Nor are these the only references to Buonarotti's
of each other's stylistic development: in this respect the probable rnediator
is their idio. The side doors of the vestibule also have a ' jointed" apparatus (dispositiuo "ain-
common friend Sebastiano Serlio.86 In actual fact, anentrance with
a triple arcade had castro") unusual in Sansovino's architecture; a rusticated complex is superimposed on
already appeared in the atrium of the Vettor Grimani's palace,which
presents afnities Doric pilasters, which are also rusticated, and is accompanied by a frieze with metopes
with Palazzo corner because of the regal character of its formulation.
and triglyphs. A triangular tympanum caps the design: but a sector of the cornice
The vibrant surface of the lower floor is scanned by elements
that correspond to projects ln ,n.h a way as to mirror the central rustication, which breaks up the band
the arrangement of the pani nobili. The triple arcade indicates
the location of the large of dentils.eo
interior chambers; together with the upper windows, their superposed
counterpar-ts Michelangelo employed this kind of 'jointed" device in the entrance portal to the
form an integrated verrical motif; rusticated supporrs, *rd. .*pii.it
by fused Lases reading room of the Laurentian Librar albeit with a different s)/ntax and without
and capitals, serve as pedestals for paired halcorumns. The
same handling of the rus- rustication: see, in particular, the drawings in the Casa Buonarotti, nn. 98 and III'e1

244 245
 VENETIAN EPILOGUE VENETIAN EPILOGUE

concealing in the process an amrmation of identity within

the uarietas emphatically
Jacopo seems to have studied this invention when Serlio's Libro Extraordinario was not
yet published and recuperated it here in a "purified" version. inscribed in his architecture.
it constitute so many
Is possible to see the Palazzo Corner vestibule as evidence of Sansovino's Flor- His is an architecture, moreover, in which Florentine references
entine sojourn of ry4o?e2 However we answer this question, it is clear thatJacopo re-
,,secret signs" (segni segreti),which were barely perceptible or even utterly lost on the
stricted himself to extracting only a few elements from Michelangelo's repertoire, Venetian observer.
sophisti-
which he then used in compositions that diverge from the style of his old rival. The In any case, other signs inserted in the faade of Palazzo corner constitute
superposed windows flanked by brackets and aedicules surmounted by tympana may cated episodes aimed at the sensibility of the exPert. The
device that permittedJacopo
highly nuanced
indicate the tacit presence of another motif taken from Buonarotti; in inverted form to isolate Lhe salone passantiimplicated a reading that could grasp the
constancy introduces
and with distinct modulations, this superposition characterizes the corner bays of the interplay of diference and ,epetition: the alteration of metrical
New Sacristy of San Lorenzo, which Sansovino seems to have interpreted with a note a subdued venetianizing cadence into a composition that is "alla romana" in char-
a second torus: a
of complacent archaism. acter. However, the bar., of the Ionic half-columns do not have
Undoubtedly, Jacopo felt the need to put an end to his splendid isolarion in Venice: vitruvian inflection that is anything but unusual for Sansovino.e6
able to ap-
his interest in Giulio Romano's innovations also attests to this facet of his style. Never- With the exception of Daniele Barbaro, Gw Venetian patricians were
of Aquilea was not pr-
theless, he did not hesitate to insert archaic elements in his designs, which serve as preciate elegantiai of this kind. Even so, the patriarch-elect
protean flexibility of
signs of linguistic freedom as well as an homage to the "fathers." The "Donatellesque" ticrrlarly *.11 dirpor.d to Jacopo;e7 perhaps it was precisely the
character of the windows with eclectic tympnums offers a parallel with the contracted this artist that proved to him. Undoubtedly, other themes justified his in-
"rr.oying faade, his opposition to)e8
serliane designed for the Scuola Grande della Misericordia and the Library of St Mark's rerest in (or, in the case of the San Francesco della Vigna
that after Doge Gritti's
Ghibertian reminiscences have also been correctly identified in his sculpture.e3 To the architecture of the Florentine. It is, however, also the case
these one should add the rustication that infiltrates the basement pilasters in PaTazzo death Sansovino felt that he did not enjoy adequate cultural
support: specific "lapses"
to a lack of
Corner. A Venetian precedent for these can be identified in Mauro Codussi's faade in tone-which appear even in Palazzo corner-can perhaps be ascribed
take into account the
for San Michele in Isola,ea though Jacopo could have recalled Rossellino's faade of external stimuli. This observation applies even if one does not
venice.
Palazzo Piccolomini in Siena as well; if this is indeed the case, we would possess a fur- difcult dialogue he attempted to realize with the specificity of
ther "Tirscanism" surreptitiously interpolated into the design. Before rerurning to thi; theme, we shall continue to analyze the palace' Its pian
in this respect
What we have noticed in Palazzo Dolfin becomes even more apprent in Palazzo nobili are rendered homogeneous by the arrangement of the balconies;
corner. The "Roman Tegacy" [in English in the original] that wolfgang Lotz dis- "poggiuoli" (projecting balconies) crittcizedby Serlio,ee
Jacopo is careful to avoidlhe
of the two lev-
cerned in Sansovino's architecture is as a rule tempered by Florentine overtones and even if he cannot escape a cert;in ponderousness in the superposition
suggestions, to which were added the effort he expended to absorb specific Venerian els. Neverrheless, rhe ypically Sansovinian bipartite balconies,
divided in half by a
composition of the
idioms. His ability to calibrate syntactical elements when confronred with specific columnar pedestal, introuce a vibrant aspect into the Olympian
moti, by utilizing different "etymons," is also a characteristic feature of Florentine inserted in the lunettes
architectonic network that the helmets, armor, and shields
tradition. It appears in Giuliano da Sangallo and in Michelozzo (who can be called a comment on in a subdued way. Sansovino thus does not hesitate
to add narrative ele-
inro his architecture (though the contrast provided by the Library of
"neomedievalist" in the Palazzo Communale of Montepulciano and an "innovator" St Mark's
ments
due to the dense web of
inPalazzo Medici). No doubt one can also speak of an inquiry attentive to "charac- is illuminaring). The Hellenistic proportions of the latter are
ter": in this way the surprising results of the Fabbriche Nuove of rhe Rialto can be exchanges between framework and bas-reliefs; the fusion
of architecture and sculp-
project here
accounted for.es The languages adopted for the Mint and the Library can be viewed ture that we have discerned in statu nascendi in the San Lorenzo faade
from a similar perspective. Thus, when analyzingJacopo's output we are obliged to Sangallo imposed on this
achieves aporheosis. The tragic inflection that Giuliano
da
evoke a "linguistic fexibilit" which, to be sure, is also reflected in his individual interchange is transmuted into a serene equilibrium'
buildings. of ornament manifest inPalazzo Corner is probably due to its
The greate, sobriety'domus
Isit possible to detect an autobiographical intention in this colloquy between Ro- as opposed to that of a public building. Indeed,
the dis-
function as a private
man, Florentine, and venetian components? The cosmopolitanism of the all,antica is of fundamental importance; but it is also true that the patron of the palace
tinction
language is rich in Florentine allusions: presumably the artist-a "double exile" by relationship between
rended to modify the ways in which humanist reflection on the
adopted for the
long-considered choice-felt the need to heal the wound of his own rootlessness, these two modalities is etpressed.1oo The "minor" tone Sansovino

246 247
 VENETIAN EPILOGUE
VENETIAN EPILOGUE
floor of the cortile; at the
THE TRT*LE *TERFR'N r arcadeis reflected on the ground
sculptural adjuncts results instead from the need to articulate a coherent faade orga-
nization: the dialectic between the upper floors and the rusticated basement implies smetimesansovinoisconstrainedtotakethetwoobligatorydimensionsintoac-
a sober treatment of the orders, which makes the dialectic optimally effective. Yet all count:oncethewidthofthesalapassantewasfixed,hewasthenforcedtowidenthat
of this failed to prevent the architect from asserting his predilection for compositions ofthesquarecortile,ThisledtodificultiesinthehandlingoftheDoric.Havinges_
made up of planes arranged to create perspectival effects. In this respect the right cor- tablishedaninteraxisoffivetriglyphsandfourmetopes'Jacopoencounteredanob-at
the pilasters should have been doubled
ner of the palace assumes particular importance, as a point where the repetition, on stacle at the corner extremities. In^th"ory,
these points of juncture, leaving
just enough room for an interval of two metopes;
the Canal side, of a monumental bay in Istrian stone gives volumetric consistency to
the opening located at the left of the cortile'
the vast architectonic mass. However, the increased width of the half-columns at this but it was impossible ,o .*..rri.rty reduce
which implied an irregular thickening
critical juncture is mediated by the projection of the small corner pier. Because of this, He thus opted for rhe contracted alternative, book:
paired units were folded like an open
the volume is decomposed into planes that hinge on a solution of continuity: a ma- of brackets andguttae.At any rate, these
the joint is made explicit by ,r. ,rtr"grl
iinkl.rg the three pilasters. This solution re-
neuver that recalls corner articulations adopted in ffteenth-century Florence. In any
case, Sansovino's preGrence for flat surfaces is illustrated by his handling of the rusti- vealsthehighdegreeofattentionhegavetoB,lda,,",.PeruzzT,sinnovations:inthis
of Palazzo Fusconi-Picini in Rome, from
cation, which is used veneer rather than as structure. connection one might compare the sirliana
for details of Ca' Corner (Andrea Mo-
as
This notwithstanding, the turning of the faade at the right corner produces an which Sansovino probably erirred inspiration
Giulio Romano' at the Porta
effect coherent with its overall dimensions: here the simple plane of Palazzo Loredan roni, in the atrium of th C"'tosa of Vigodarzere'and on
the Pa|azzo Thiene cortile inYicenza, drew
may be said to be thickened without compromising the Venetian custom of the au- della Cittadella in Mantua, and perha ps
tonomous front, placed to distinguish the facies of the house-the limit between pub- the same source).103
cortilebruta\ oppose the rhythmic
lic and private-from the organism as a whole. However, the corner contractions in Sansovino's
This aspect of the palace presents us with a problem of the linkage with the sim- patternoftheDoricfrieze.Thesourcesofthisparticularlicensearewellknown:itis out-
corrections Raphael imposed upon the
ple side structure. Jacopo resolves this problem in a way that is analogous to the solu- possible that Jacopo recalled the optical
dellAquila: yet in these cases, aS
tion conceived at Villa Garzoni. The area reserved for the rooms is isolated: intercon- side bays of Pa|azzoAlberini andPa|azzoBranconio
Pag|ianhas shown,,0a minute variations
in the interaxes are manipulated with a high
nected stone fascias join the side windows, which are attached to the line indicated
with disinvohute'For his part' Frommel
by the cornices, balconies, and the imposts. Here a faade consisting primarily of fas- degree of sophistication, solving the problem
has shed light on the Vitruvialn orilin
of the perspectival foreshortenings Raphael
cras (lafacciata"afascie")
-a feature that Sansovino's projects for San Lorenzo and
Palazzo Gaddi had derived from Giuliano da Sangallo and the antique-now informs employedtnthePa|azzettoofJacopod,B.",.i,,,'dtotherightsideofthehousehe
modifcations that the artist used to
the structure of the secondary front, an aspect of the palace destined to become para- planned for himself on the via Giuliato'-visual
ino,s cortile, however, this is not the
case.
digmatic for subsequent Venetian architecture. Indeed, Venetian architects continued exploit dificult site conditions. In Sansov
to draw inspiration from Sansovino's range of inventions over a considerable period Instead,sansovinoseemstohaveechoed,onceagain,therhythmicalirregulari-
to say,
Needless possessed neither
of time, assimilating them as so many etymons able to preserve the continuity of the ties and transgressions of Giulio Romano. Jacopo
His metrical liberties have something rough
imago urbis}}l Widespread use of the motif was in all likelihood facilitated by Vene- Giulio's perversity nor his caustic spirit.
of the cortileare handled with a certain nonchalance'
tian precedents: faades with stratified schemes can be found in the Palazzo Ducale, about them: the corner solutions
Palazzo Zorzi aT. San Severo, andPalazzo Cappello in Canonica.1o2 However, anyone TheelegantiaeoftheLibreriaMarcianaSeemremotefromtheseefforts:allthesame,
it should be noted that even the corner
solution-celebrated' in Francesco Sanso-
who wanders through alleys, around canals, and through the campi or piazze of Venice
vino,s venetia, citt nobilissima as an example
of strict vitruvianismlo6-is anything
will be able to recognize the continuity of the uie des formes without much diffculty:
at the end of the Doric ftieze' Jacopo
the modest and homogeneous faades made of repeated fascias, so typical of Venetian but brilliant. To obtain an entire half-metope
However, the moldings of the base-
architecture, reveal an unconscious debt to a model generated by meditation on the links the corner pilasters to an emerging pier.
and a canonical one at the corners-
Pantheon and the Forum ofTiajan. which take on an abstract form near the arches, that
-w'e
are thus faced with the same bold use of syntax
To a certain degree, the faade and sides ofPalazzo Corner show different aspects make the pier asymmetrical.
characterized thepalazzocorner cortile.
onemight sa therefore, that Sansovino ap-
of Sansovino's approach. For now, it is enough to recognize thatJacopo, opting for the
studied simplicity that was reserved for the Canal faade, shows that he did not con- pearsdisinterestedinprovinghisvirtuositywhenhandlingdetailsthatareexcessively
sider a "minor" theme to be a negligible one. constrained.

249
248
 VENETIAN EPILOGUE VENETIAN EPILOGUE

The method adopted in the upper floors of the cortile refl.ects

the faade appararus, the first case, he had to put up with a lack of sympathy and uncongenial conduct on
even if specific details suggest that they were completed later.10i At the ,r-.
ti-., th. the patron's part (which made matters even more complex); in the second, the monu-
low reliefofthe orders and synthetic approach to particular details
are part ofthe art- mental character of the theme was assimilated in a passive manner. It is beyond doubt
ist's overall style: the simplifications of the Mint cortile
and the Fabbriche Nuove del that the aristocratic families who employed Sansovino harbored, each in their own
Rialto amply attest to these traits.108
way, a desire to be among the first to "modernize" Venetian taste. ,\gain, we would
The cottle would seem to betray a blas tritude, which-if
closely scrutinized- do well to underscore the pertinence of their religious and political attitudes fto this
extends to the building s a whole. Sansovino seems to
have had to put up with for- situation], since the ambiguities that the architect was obliged to register indicate a
mal choices imposed by the patron: the rhetoric and "rerrifying"
scale (siata tenibite) manifest oscillation between open-mindedness and caution.
are at odds with his sensibility.
Here we canhazard an explanation for the flexible approach Sansovino employed
one should also note, however, that the condition of the cortile has
deteriorated when responding to these constraints. Forced to maneuver between demands that
markedly' rn 24, a richly ornamented cistern adorned with
garland -bearing putti were often contradictory, he was inspired by the very dificulties he sought to over-
was taken from the cenrer of the cortre and subsequently
moved o the campo ss. come; as already seen, on the other hand, he exercised restraint when facing problems
Giovanni e Paolo. And as Giagiacomo Fontana notes, around "r
the middle of the previ- that were of no interest to him. But the situation in which he found himself in Venice
ous century, in the pavement of the cortle
was not without its painful sides. Not long after his arrival, the aftershocks suft^ered by
a sort of labyrinth of red stone was rraced for the
amusemenr of the famiry (. . .) the theoretical principles he assimilated in Florence and Rome became evident.
which, though it still serves, is about to crumble; it is to be replaced The project we are about to study provides a particularly telling clue in this respect,
by a paving
stone of the kind used to make grindstones. clearly this as it is exceptional both in the heterogeneous position it occupies in relation to the
is ill-advised.10e
material we have analyzed so far and, for that matter, in relation to the entire range
The most immediate reference for this combination of an
incised pavement and a of Renaissance architecture.
central cistern is the villa Garzoni cortile. Andif the labyrinth
is in fact Sansovino,s, it
should be taken as further evidence of the "dialog.r. a distance,,in which both he
and Giulio participated; it is a well-known facr ihrt ", , l"by.inth appears 4. The Case Moro at San Girolamo
in the plan
study for Palazzo Te contained in the so-called Mantuan
notebook of Marten van Deborah Howard deserves credit for having identified the Case Moro at San Giro-
Heemskerck.ll. 'what served as encomium of the Gonz aga
in Mantua did not have lamo (attributed toJacopo by Vasari) as one of Sansovino's works (Plate ti).ttt Never-
a comparable emblematic implication in the Venetian
palace; hence it should be re- theless, its place in Sansovino's career is not easy to specify, and not only because of
garded as a pure graphic game.
the fragmentary state of the complex (which recently has been partly restored).r12
Let us try to synthesize the facts we have gathered so far.
Sansovino demonstrated First, it is necessary to reconstruct the original text. A Gw general indications in this
a high degree of virtuosity in the palace project for vetror
Grimani; however, this regard are provided by the Furlan map (r5); a painting and drawing by Francesco
bravura clisplay was one of the factors that contributed
to irs abandonrnent. Ever the Guardi provide additional testimony. Corresponding to the Sansovinian organism in
foreigner in the venetian milieu,
Jacopo appears to have pursued a modus operandi every detail, the building that appears in these images has been thought to represent
that took the universality of the post-Bramantean interpretation
of the antique for the so-called casino degli spiriti at the Misericordia, and has been overlooked by Sanso-
granted: at the same time he was forced to come to terms
with aesthetic modes that vino scholars for this reason.113
contested this universalit with a cottsuetudo that justified
his own ,.aggregative,, vo_ It is clear from the outset that abiolutely nothing o{ the all'antic language is dis-
cation, and a patronfartist relation that he had never encountered
before. The sa- cernible in the pared-down structure of the Case Moro, which is organized around a
craTity both of the site and of the traditional idioms
ancl design methods he encoun- huge rectangular cortile defined by corner toweis. In this work, the "nuova maniera"
tered in the Serenissim unexpectedly became a value that
needed to be annexed to (new style) is decisively put asicle in favor of a disquieting elementarism.
the language. This process of assimilation was not withour
its difculties. ultimately, Yet it is also the case that Vasari states that the residencesJacopo designed for Leo-
the path of mediation between the Venetian cult of continuity
and the closed, sel nardo Moro are "di molto valuta" (of high quality), and look "quasi a un castello"
sufcient character of the all'a,tica syntaxproved to be problematic
indeed. (almost like a castle):1ra a comparison that is taken up again in Francesco Sansovino's
Yet Ttti took up the challenge. rnpalazzo Dolfin andparazzo
corner, he grappled guiclebook, Venetia citt nobilissinm.t t5
with the problem of giving architectural form to a set of reasonable
compromises: in The use of the second expression is justified. The four corner towers, which stand

250
25r
 VENETIAN EPILOGUE
out because of their height, certainly recall fourteenth-century castle complexes.
Small crenellated portals interrupt the connecting wings and open into the court,
whose garden was described by sixteenth-century sources as one of the finest in the
city.116
The profile of the ensemble has a variety of different heights: entrances crowned
by small inverted arches, horizontal blocks, and corner parallelepipeds form an as-
cending series that evolves from the center of each wing outward. In this way mini-
mal linguistic instruments harmonize with the vernacular and "popular" forms of the
monosectioned and trisectioned windows, the protruding chimneys, and the doors.
Here rhythm is the real protagonist, the same rhythm that is closely associated with
[traditional Venetian] residential rypologies.
From the preceding analysis, a characteristic has emerged that gives us ample reason
to reflect: namely, the austerity of the project seems to correspond to a design com-
mitment that acquires all the more signifcance because it is dissimulared by a lack of
eloquence.
This aphasia should be seen in light of the patron's personality and the probable
date of the complex. Begun tn ry44, the project likely was built for speculative pur-
poses.117 In 1549 Leonardo Moro left the palace of his uncle Giovanni in Sant'Agostino
to take up residence in San Felice; in the same year, the first ten houses at San Giro-
lamo were occupied by tenants.118 It is dificult to ascertain the precise moment when
Leonardo decided to subsequently change residence. However it is clear that in r55z
he acquired new properties at San Girolamo (quite possibly near the Lagoon).11e If, as
Howard suggests,12o Sansovino's palace resulted from a series of revisions on the pa-
tron's part, one would have to conclude that the architect did practically everything
in his power to turn the final product into a seamless, integrated whole. By the same
token, \Me cannot rule out the possibility of an original project that was executed in
successive stages. ,tnd yet, the information disclosed by the ryBz decima (tax return)
is revealing.l21 At that time Giovanni, Leonardo's son, was living in one of the cor-
ner towers; the symmetrical tower was rented out to Timoteo Valier for 4o ducats;
six patricians occupied an equal number of dwellings; another seven residential spaces
were rented to citizens; five small residences were occupied by sailors. It is significant
that this structure in the northwest sector of the city was characterizedby a juxtapo-
sition of different social classes: its simplicity and apparent aphasia were-it should be
recalled-by no means the target of contempt or rejection by the patricians who lived
there.
Is it to discern programmatic motives in these residential choices, which
possible
are diametrically opposed to those made by the Loredan, Grimani, Giovanni Dolfin,
and the Corner? Leonardo Moro-a
personal friend of Sansovino and one of the ex-
ectors of his will122-seems to belong to a sector of the patriciate that had as many
close connections with the institutions of the Serenissima as the aforementioned fam-
ilies. Born in r5rz, he was the only son of the Senator carlo Moro; he entered the
252
VENETIAN EPILOGUE
Senate by buying himself a sear; in ty7 he married into the Querini family,
cele-
brating his marriage with Elena di Stefano; three years later he inherited her father's
fortune as well as those of her uncles Bernardo, Giovanni, and Girolamo, who died
without heirs.123'When he undertook the San Girolamo project, practically the entire
mefcantile fortune of his relatives was in his hands: a fact that makes the formal aus-
terity of the project all the more problematic.
Concina has discovered that the Moro name was closely associated with a building
program undertaken by the Doge Cristoforo, the dynasty's most illustrious member'124
It was he who constructed the Case Moro and its cortile at the far end of Cannaregio
canal. Initially built to house poor sailors, it was administered jointly by the Procu-
ratoria de SupralSupewisors of the Basilica and Ptazza of St Mark's] and the Church
of the Monastery of San Giobbe. To these we should add the Moro jurisdiction over
theMisericordiaAbbey.l25Leonardo'sinitiative,then,whichtookplacebetweenthe
works commissioned by Cristoforo and the Misericordia, might well imply a return
to "origins."
The hierarchy between public projects, for which magnificence was reserved, and
private ones was reiterated with some insistence by Venetian humanists' The theme
was treated by Domenico Morosini and Nicolo Zen; even earlier the doctor
Giovanni
Caldiera asserted:
Domus enim non pro divitiarum copiis a civibus formandae sunt, sed Pro
decentia Civitatis et meritis personarum (. . .) Magis et enim se dignum admi-
ratione faciat iconomus pro virtute qua prestat quam Pro sumptuousa domo
qua precellere curavit. Non domus sed virtus immortales homines et diis pares
facit.126
We should nore rhar the frst volume of Caldiera's trilogy-De virtutibus moralibus-
was dedicated to Doge Cristoforo Moro.
Leonardo Moro fits almost too neatly within the social ethic embodied by fifteenth-
and sixteenth-century humanists. The extreme simplicity of his residence implied a
programmatic, even contemptuous, refusal of the ostentatious habits of the Loredan
and the Corner.
Let us now turn to the architectural text itself, orienting our questions around the
preceding observations. Its organization seems to be perfectly modular; its seriality
recalls the tradition of Venetian row houses that evolved from the medieval period
onward. Examples of this type are found in the Calle Zottiin Santo Sofia; the Calle
del Paradiso in San Lio, the Corte Nuova in Castello, the Marinarczza, an the Corti
in San Lorenzo.l2l However, the Case Moro is only distantly related to the Corti di
San Marco or San Rocco at Santa Maria Maggiore, whose quadrilateral plan
schemes
utilize simplified typological elements.l2B Sansovino's row houses are comPosed of bi-
cellular nuclei that form aggregations; the portego-krtchen sequence' in combination
with two rooms extending back from it, is repeated arouncl an axis of symmetry. The
253
 VENETIAN EPILOGUE
attachment of the sequence to the corner towers is quite coherent: its structure con-
forms to the wall texture set by the towers for three bays. In the center superposed
sale passanti are inserted, and at the ends one finds rooms analogous to those of the
sequence; two square rooms flank the side opposite the stairs-which are set at a 90-
degree angle to the retaining walls.12' Repetition and exceptions are thus complemen-
tar a feature of the complex that confrms the hypothesis of a single project executed
at clifferent times. ,\ccording to a recent suggestion, the Case Moro represents one of
the first venetian examples of a "complex type" because of its superposed and inde-
pendent piani nobili, the presence of double stairs, or of staircases after the manner of
Leonardo da Vinci ("alla leonardesca").r:tolhis would seem to verify Sansovino's in-
tention to create a decidedly vernacular work modest in visual impact.
The complementarity of exterior composition and seriality in plan demonstrates
this intention. As already observed, the rhythm articulated by doors, windows, and
chirnneys plays a decisive role in the faade articulation. However, the paired doors
do not combine with the frst floor apertures but rather with those of the second
and with the tall chimneys. From this arrangement a composite rhythm is derived-
almost a polyphony-which animares the formal minimalism of the complex. If we
focus on a single serial element, referring to the chimneys by the symbol "" and the
arched windows by "^:'we obrain the following scheme:
a-A-a aaa-aaa-a A- a-A-a-aaa-aaa -a-Aa
The chimneys divide the rooms in the bicellular modules in two. The connecrion
of the towers to the lower portions of the palace is handled in a sophisticated way:
an abrupt increase in height is evident between the'small attic window of the final
house and the single window inserted into the corner mass; however, continuity is
assurecl by the piano nobile, in which only the chimney bases and the rhythms of the
pertures vary. Consequentl the inflection of the volumetric masses, the rhythm of
the walls, and the typological modules are fused into a coherent, integrated cadence.
Hence Sansovino seems to defy the limits set by the pared-down, minimal character
of his theme.
Nevertheless, Howard has cast cloubt on Jacopo's responsibility for the design. Ar-
guing that because Leonardo was possibly an architectural dilettante, like Francesco
zen and Aivise cornaro, she suggests that he couid have played a prominent role in
designing the project, leaving irs execurion to his architect friend.l3lThis hypothe-
sis is not very convincing, as Howard herself points out-and not only becau.se of
the complete lack of corroborating evidence. The fact that Vasari Glt the need to
mention Sansovino in connection with a virtually anonymous work like the Case
Moro can only give us paLrse. It is probable that the Aretine writer himself found it
unusual that Sansovino was involved in a project of this kind to begin with. To this
it should be aclcled that the sources to which Vasari had access-the architect himself
254
VENETIAN EPILOGUE
or his son-would have been interested in recording the authorship of the building
for posterity.
'We are obliged to conclude, then, that Sansovino was in some sense satisfied with
the outcome: to hide this work from the biographer would certainly not have been
dificult.
A sERTES of different models have been cited to ccount for the peculiarities of the
building: Byzantine case-fondaco [a building type derived from the Arab fondouk, or
trading center] ; Filarete's proposal for a"palace in the marshes"; the villa-farms of
the Veneto; some of Leonardo's architectural designs; and even Giuliano da Sangallo's
projects for the King of Naples and the ones Bramante designed for the Palazzo det
Tiibunali on rhe Via Giulia. If the latter seems incommensurate with the problem at
hand, comparison with fifteenth-century north Italian farm buildings seems more to
the point (for instance, the Sforzesca near Vigevano or Lorenzo the Magnificent's ca-
scna, or dairy farm, at Poggio a Caiano). All of these buildings have cortili wtth cor
ner towers.l32This similarity notwithstanding, the Case Moro cannot in the endbe
assimilated to a working farm. But to recall such precedents does have a specifc ad-
vantage: it militates against the attempt to isolate "high" models for Sansovino's un-
conventional achievement.
A typological source for the Case Moro has already been indicated: the Vene-
tian tradition of anonymous vernacular architecture associated with residenttal rughi,
housing per Amore di De, the cortili of the segentes. The austere language adopted in the
Moro residence clearly distinguishes it from structures like the Castelforte San Rocco
or the Case dei Molin at San Baseggio (which dates to about 1553). Built as houses for
middle-class tenants, these buildings were ennobled by adding multisectioned win-
dows accompanied by arches supported by Doric columns.133 By contrast, the palace
that Leonardo Moro commissioned rnounces any form of "status syrnbol" [in En-
glish in the original].
,\s far the patron's intentions are concerned, Concina has formulated the prob-
as
lem correctly: the "anti-rhetoric" of Sansovino's Moro residence certainly implied the
ideology of a "return to origins."13a The meaning of this reGrence is explicit enough:
the entire complex evokes the related topoi of "ancestral parsimony," the mythical so-
briety of the original inhabitants of the Venetian Lagoon and their concord of equals
founded on a leveling mediocritas. Nothing could be more distant from the Case Moro
than the aristocratic penchant for seldisplay evident in Sanmicheli's palaces and in
PaTazzo Corner. As in Andrea Gritti's earlier houses and the ones Leonardo Don
would subsequently build,13s they are distinguished as much by their participation in
a "chorus" as by their adoption of an unobtrusive language. Indeed, in Venice, the
latter had its roots in an "eternal present." The site of these modest patrician houses
255
 VENTIAN EPILOGUE
in the hectic heart of the city-
is also signifcant in itself. Rather than being located
privileged locus of ostentation-they are placed in a remote urban periphery in the
north part of the Lagoon: the Moro complex at San Girolamo, the Gritti residence at
San Francesco della Vigna, the Dona residence on the Fondamenta Nuove.
tadition, then, versus innovation. The continuity of family histories and of the
Republic replaces a transfguration that does not fall in line with the private aspect
of the "community of equals" (even if this "equality" is affiliated with a patriciate
that was, for the most part, strictly hierarchical). Here as well it might prove fruitful
to compre Florence and Venice. Instances of resistance to the Roman idioms of the
ffteenth century and the frst years of the sixteenth have something in common with
contemporaneous Venetian trends: realities preserving the memory of Republican tra-
ditions were pitted against attempts to conform to the universalizing myth. In other
words, [in Venice] the reality of "difference" was stubbornly defended.
But from the architect's standpoint what could an experience conditioned by
Leonardo Moro's demands have meant? Without doubt, a significant affinity exists
between the Moro houses and the refned elementalism of the San Martino parish
church. The two works seem to push to an extreme a tendency that we have identifed
as a secondary component of Ca' Corner or Villa Garzont'. a humble language-the
one "spoken" by the side faade of Palazzo Corner-is thus "emancipated" from any
subordination to the rhetorical impulse. In another context, it is not by chance that
we evoked the languages of the Catholic Reform movement and of civic religion
to contextualize the San Martino parish church. For their part, the Case Moro have
something of an Erasmian character, given their exaltation of the modesty of Cin-
cinnatus or, for that matter, of the fdelity of Coriolanus.136 As specifcally Republi-
can virtues these exempla refer to a Roman heritage fraught with that entirely "inner"
glory cherished by the Rotterdam humanist. In this connection, the "timeless" archi-
tecture brought to fruition at San Girolamo acquires a significance that is even more
vivid than the minimalism informing Sansovino's works of public welfare and charity
houses.
It should be noted that construction of the Case Moro and Ca' Corner began at al-
most exactly the same time: in 1548 Jacopo obtained the commission for the faade of
Sant',tntonio di Castello; in 1553 the works at San Giuliano were already under way;
in 1557 those at San Geminiano began.137 Thus, it is not valid to suppose that the artist
experienced a "crisis": Sansovino never repudiated (as Bartolomeo Ammannati sub-
'W'e
sequently did) his own "paganizing" production. must search elsewhere for a re-
sponse to the questions posed by the hieratic text we are analyzing
wE HAVE uSED the expression "timeless" (senza tempo) on two separate occasions, each
with a different implication: frst, in connection with the abstractions produced by
the Sangallo and their followers, and now in connection with the Case Moro. In both,
256
VENETIAN EPILOGUE
the vitality of the antique is suspended. If we can see the Case Moro as the
extreme
result of a series that has the engaging elegance of Palazzo Gaddi as its point of depar-
ture, we would be justifed in evoking themes of renunciation and silence.r3s
Renunciation and silence: parameters that have at times been applied to the
final
phase of Michelangelo's career,l3e however remote from Sansovino's
experience this
Lry b.. Yer, as already suggested, Ttti was possibly not insensitive to religious themes
,rr"logo.r, to the ones that agitated Michelangelo's conscience' even if these were in-
teriorized in a different way. This observation is not superfluous when one considers
the response the architect gave to a commission whose aim was to make humility
a
means of expressing [civicl pride.
In addition, it is evident that Michelangelo used emptiness and silence-though
not always-as linguistic instruments; in this sense their problematic relation with the
antique remains constant.
On the contrary, renunciation in the Case Moro applies to the antique and its ac-
tualization. iHerc, inuentio is supersededby consuetdo; Sansovino reduces subjective in-
tn
tervention to a minimum, by allowing it to become part of a res aedifcatora that,
one that is
accepting only marginal modications, knows no other temporality than
"almost st1ll" (quasi immobile). Nor can the intentions of the Patron-who could very
well have .mply.d an anonymo vs pr,to or an "artisan" like Scarpagnino, as Leonardo
Don would subsequently do-entirely explain the unconventional character of the
oLltcome.
with this observation, the entire serpentine discourse of this study comes to a
close, and, so to speak, folds over onto itself. In the case of the Case Moro,
Sansovino
literally jumps out of the magic circle of humanist representation; and in so doing he
places a subdued-and for this reason unsettling-question mark after
the universal-
ism inherent in the return to the antique.
Undoubtedly, the ambiguities and "lapses" registered in Ca'Dolfin and Ca'Corner
had to be
are eliminated in the Case Moro. Yet a reductive attitude is the price that
paid for this frankness.'W'e can describe this situation in a different way: as a mode
of
,.r.r.nd.. to the suggestive power of sedimented forms that were as rich in memories
as they were poor in subjective overtones.
have thus made artifacts speak that initially seemed to be stricken with apha-
'W'e
sia. Yet the message expressed by these murmuring forms transcends what we
have
'With the Case Moro, it is clear that the artist who sculpted
understood up to now.
the Bargello B"..hrx tried to exist in the space and time of a sacral civic reality that
had achieved apotheosis, and, in doing so, to speak a language as anonymous as
it was
mystical. This is the point at which our analysis has been aiming'
It has been said thar the humanistic Renaissance of the antique gods "mytholo-
gtzed" 1iG.140 With Brunelleschi's existential jest, we began to traverse the region
opened by the Renaissance dialectic between nature and artifice. For Sansovino, ac-
..pr".r.. of the Venice of Leonardo Moro seems to have signifed a traumatic, if lib-
257
 VENETIAN EPILOGUE

erating, encounter with authentic myth: one embodied in life and legitimized by in-
teriorized traditions. ,\s with all myths, the one lived by the heirs of the Venetian
"forefathers" enjoyed an order refractory to autotelic mental experiments.
To have allowed himself to be transported by this myth is perhaps Sansovino's
masterpiece. It is to lived myth that he "abandons himself in the Case Moro; by P^y-
ing homage to it he stills the pride of the innovator; by giving it space, rlio dissolves
into artisan's work. It is impossible not to conclude that the certainties of Rome's aurea
aetas were anything but enduring. Viewed as the result of an introspective inquiry, the
Case Moro and the San Martino parish church intersect an essential Venetian rhythm:
that of melancholy, generated by a thoughtful return, of a feeling chained to memo-
ries, of observing the present "ftorr. afar." A P P EN D I x I Additional Documents
Only someone who has for some time harbored doubts concerning the universal-
ism of the "reborn" forms could have formulated such a rr'dical critique. Nonetheless,
Sansovino's homage to Venetian melancholy, sedimented within the silent periphery
of Cannaregio, is not as innocent as he would have us believe. CHAPTER THREE
For, in spite of everything, these houses are the result of a reflective attitude: the The following documents are among the first acts undertaken by Nicholas
V in his urban
attitude of a man who, though he accepts the language of his adoptive community, program fo, th. renovation of Rome (see note 55). The two bulls are cited,
in addition to
othr, ..grrding S. Maria Maggiore, in G. Ferri, "Le carte dell'archivio liberiano,"
Archiuio
still feels like a stranger. Only an intense form of intellectual mediation could permit
(r9o7): ro-r, with the original signatures' At
this reception. And only a subjective and profoundly humanistic attitude could have della R. SocietRomana di StoriaPatriaxxx
present they are located in the Vatican Library (for seventeenth-century copies see ibid',
made Sansovino's renunciation of humanistic representation possible.
an organized
Once again, the beginning and the end of our reflections touch. The unfounded Cod. Vat. Lat. 8o35, lL, lS-ll and 78-8r). It was Nicholas's intention to create
To realize this
condition we have read between the lines of Alberti's text is fused with Sansovino's residential quarter in the area surrounding the basilica of S. Maria Maggiore'
and other incentives for
goal he ensured tax exemptions, the easing of legal restrictions,
immersion in the language of existence, which provided an alternative to the artificial Of unusual interest as
ihor" *ho intended to settle there for a period of at least ten years.
tradition legitimized by those very same pages. invad-
well is the clause stipularing that the Roman people must refrain from giving aid to
To those who would maintain that, in our readings, we have passed through the
ing armies. The declared purpose of the bill is, in fact, the renovation of the Monti quar-
threshold of what is verifiable (l'accertabile), ths complexio oppositorum has-or so it seems
ter, which had fallen into a state of decay. Nicholas probably wanted to renovate
the area
to say.
around the basilica for theJubilee Year of r45o. The frst document has been analyzedby
-little
Yet, for the author, it puts into question-without anticipating the answer-the Charles Burroughs, who used the text in the Archivio Segreto Vaticano R V 4o7, cc' 196r-
rootlessness that our historical condition must confront. r98 (See Burroughs, Fron Sigtts to Design, 2g7-g8)'

r. Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Santa Maria Maggiore, cartella 72, n. zo6

[Ferri n. CCVXI; previous number

CCV]. li4,ay z3 t447'

Nicolaus episcopus servus servorum Dei ad futuram rei memoriam. Pro felici
direc-
et ad
tione status urbis et illius conservatione salubri nostros potissime dirigimus cogitatus,
inhabitandum ipsius loca urbis utriusque sexus persons per privilegiorum et libertatum
media provocamus. Accepimus siquidem quod, propter nimiam habitationum distantiam
onera aliasque
ac habitatiorum inopiam nec non diversarum impositionum et gabellarum
varias causas, plurimi presterim in ipsius urbis extremitatibus, ubi personarum copia sive
frequentia ,,on h"b",.rr, constituti se ab inde plerumque transferunt sua alibi, habitacula
quJre.rtes, unde fit ut dicte urbis regiones, et precipiue regio montium
in huisimodi ex-
tiemitatibus, habitatoribus detitute furent ac destituantur in dies, in dedecus urbis
et deso-

258 259