Venice
The Venetian States, since the twelfth century, had been growing in power, and the Republic’s rise in importance was favourable to the arts, particularly to architecture.
Local influence is evident in the comparatively restricted ground areas, entailing the maximum accommodation possible.
The Venetian school is distinguished by the profuse use of columns and arcading; also for the employment of circular-headed windows, frequently subdivided by tracery of smaller arched and circular forms, and by general lightness of effect.
The founder of the Venetian school was San Micheli, born in 1484 A.D., who spent many years studying the ancient Roman monuments, and who was responsible for the Grimani Palace.
Jacopo Tatti, a Florentine, more usually known as Sansovino, though mentioned in the Roman group of architects, was however more associated with Venice, his adopted city.
No. 80. Vendramini Palace, Venice.
Prominent among his works is the Library of St. Mark, which consists of two orders, an upper of the Ionic, supported by an arcade in which the Doric is employed, the whole surmounted by a balustrade with statues on the piers.