PALACES AND HOUSES: VENICE. The northern cities, especially Pisa, Florence, Sienna, Bologna, and Venice, are rich in mediæval public and private palaces and dwellings in brick or marble, in which pointed windows and open arcades are used with excellent effect. In Bologna and Sienna brick is used, in conjunction with details executed in moulded terra-cotta, in a highly artistic and effective way. Viterbo, nearer Rome, also possesses many interesting houses with street arcades and open stairways or stoops leading to the main entrance.
FIG. 156.—LOGGIA DEI LANZI, FLORENCE.
The security and prosperity of Venice in the Middle Ages, and the ever present influence of the sun-loving East, made the massive and fortress-like architecture of the inland cities unnecessary. Abundant openings, large windows full of tracery of great lightness and elegance, projecting balconies and the freest use of marble veneering and inlay—a survival of Byzantine traditions of the 12th century (see [p. 133])—give to the Venetian houses and palaces an air of gayety and elegance found nowhere else. While there are few Gothic churches of importance in Venice, the number of mediæval houses and palaces is very large. Chief among these is the Doge’s Palace (Fig. 157), adjoining the church of St. Mark. The two-storied arcades of the west and south fronts date from 1354, and originally stood out from the main edifice, which was widened in the next century, when the present somewhat heavy walls, laid up in red, white and black marble in a species of quarry-pattern, were built over the arcades. These arcades are beautiful designs, combining massive strength and grace in a manner quite foreign to Western Gothic ideas. Lighter and more ornate is the Ca d’Oro, on the Grand Canal; while the Foscari, Contarini-Fasan, Cavalli, and Pisani palaces, among many others, are admirable examples of the style. In most of these a traceried loggia occupies the central part, flanked by walls incrusted with marble and pierced by Gothic windows with carved mouldings, borders, and balconies. The Venetian Gothic owes its success largely to the absence of structural difficulties to interfere with the purely decorative development of Gothic details.
FIG. 157.—WEST FRONT VIEW OF DOGE’S PALACE, VENICE.
MONUMENTS. 13th Century: Cistercian abbeys Fossanova and Casamari, cir. 1208; S. Andrea, Vercelli, 1209; S. Francesco, Assisi, 1228–53; Church at Asti, 1229; Sienna C., 1243–59 (cupola 1259–64; façade 1284); S. M. Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice, 1250–80 (finished 1388); Sta. Chiara, Assisi, 1250; Sta. Trinità, Florence, 1250; S. Antonio, Padua, begun 1256; SS. Giovanni e Paolo, Venice, 1260 (?)-1400; Sta. Anastasia, Verona, 1261; Naples C., 1272–1314 (façade 1299; portal 1407; much altered later); S. Lorenzo, Naples, 1275; Campo Santo, Pisa, 1278–83; Arezzo C., 1278; S. M. Novella, Florence, 1278; S. Eustorgio, Milan, 1278; S. M. sopra Minerva, Rome, 1280; Orvieto C., 1290 (façade 1310; roof 1330); Sta. Croce, Florence, 1294 (façade 1863); S. M. del Fiore, or C., Florence, 1294–1310 (enlarged 1357; E. end 1366; dome 1420–64; façade 1887); S. Francesco, Bologna.—14th century: Genoa C., early 14th century; S. Francesco, Sienna, 1310; San Domenico, Sienna, about same date; S. Giovanni in Fonte, Sienna, 1317; S. M. della Spina, Pisa, 1323; Campanile, Florence, 1335; Or San Michele, Florence, 1337; Milan C., 1386 (cupola 16th century; façade 16th-19th century; new façade building 1895); S. Petronio, Bologna, 1390; Certosa, Pavia, 1396 (choir, transepts, cupola, cloisters, 15th and 16th centuries); Como C., 1396 (choir and transepts 1513); Lucca C. (S. Martino), Romanesque building remodelled late in 14th century; Verona C.; S. Fermo, Maggiore; S. Francesco, Pisa; S. Lorenzo, Vicenza.—15th century: Perugia C.; S. M. delle Grazie, Milan, 1470 (cupola and exterior E. part later).
Secular Buildings: Pal. Pubblico, Cremona, 1245; Pal. Podestà (Bargello), Florence, 1255 (enlarged 1333–45); Pal. Pubblico, Sienna, 1289–1305 (many later alterations); Pal. Giureconsulti, Cremona, 1292; Broletto, Monza, 1293; Loggia dei Mercanti, Bologna, 1294; Pal. Vecchio, Florence, 1298; Broletto, Como; Pal. Ducale (Doge’s Palace), Venice, 1310–40 (great windows 1404; extended 1423–38; courtyard 15th and 16th centuries); Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence, 1335; Loggia del Bigallo, 1337; Broletto, Bergamo, 14th century; Loggia dei Nobili, Sienna, 1407; Pal. Pubblico, Udine, 1457; Loggia dei Mercanti, Ancona; Pal. del Governo, Bologna; Pal. Pepoli, Bologna; Palaces Conte Bardi, Davanzati, Capponi, all at Florence; at Sienna, Pal. Tolomei, 1205; Pal. Saracini, Pal. Buonsignori; at Venice, Pal. Contarini-Fasan, Cavalli, Foscari, Pisani, and many others; others in Padua and Vicenza.