Palazzo Ducale is a superb example of Venetian Gothic architecture and even later vandalism didn’t spoil it. Work on the palace has barely stopped in the intervening centuries (even today parts of it can be closed to receive constant care and restoration). So as well as good medieval carvings we see fine 19th century copies.
The Palazzo Ducale, or Doge’s Palace, was the seat of the government of Venice for centuries. As well as being the home of the Doge (the elected ruler of Venice) it was the venue for its law courts, its civil administration and bureaucracy and, until its relocation across the Bridge of Sighs, the city jail. The system of elected doges was as singular as everything else about this very singular city, and lasted for 1000 years, from the election of Paolo Lucio Anafesto in 697AD to the deposing of Ludovico Nanin in 1789. The Serene Republic was just that, a republic, and guarded fiercely against hereditary rule, though that principle was increasingly shaped to the advantage of the ruling classes. A vast bureaucracy of elected civil servants, committees and councils was presided over by the only figure elected for life, the doge. The Venetians were wary of the corruptions of lifetime rule and established a similarly complex system of checks on the doge. All his mail was read first by the censor; all foreign dignitaries were received in committee rather than by the doge alone. The Palazzo Ducale was rebuilt many times thereafter, and it was with the construction of the Sala del Maggior Consiglio in 1340 that the present building really took shape. Work continued until 1420, largely under the guidance of architect and sculptor Filippo Calendario. The decoration is enormously elaborate and impressive. |
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