The opposite side of the Place of St. Mark is occupied by the Procuratie Nuove, built partly by Sansovino, and partly by Scamozzi. Sansovino first built the Zecca in the Piazzetta; the lower order of which is Doric, with an entablature of considerably more than one fourth of the height of the column; a proportion displeasingly large, especially in this ornamental style; the intercolumniations have three triglyphs, and include an arch rising on imposts. The triglyphs are tall and narrow, with only two femora. The second order is Ionic, with an entablature still more overcharged; the frieze is immense, with round windows, which are very much masked by the profusion of sculpture. It seems to me that in this, the architect wished to preserve some degree of correspondence with the Procuratie Vecchie, with which he has made the height coincide. The three first arches of the Procuratie Nuove, are the same as those of the Zecca; the ten following were executed under the direction of Scamozzi. He followed the Doric order of the Zecca, and the Ionic, to the top of the columns, but he corrected the extravagance of its cornice, and added a third order with Corinthian columns, which is perhaps rather meagre, but altogether the composition is pleasing. The same design was followed in the remainder of the building, but not, as it appears, under the direction of any architect, and the workmanship is very indifferent. One great defect of the arrangement, arises from its height being so much greater than that of the opposite side; a defect become more sensible by the destruction of the church of San Geminiani. This church was also the design of Sansovino, and the Venetian dilettanti regret its destruction. Yet to judge from indifferent engravings, it seems to have been a poor thing in itself, and must certainly have been injurious to the effect of the Place, by interfering with that unity of object which at present is its great charm.
That I may finish all I have to say of the Place of St. Mark, I will tell you that the foundations of the great Campanile date as far back as 888, but the present walls were not begun till the year 1148. What the foundations were doing for two hundred and sixty years I cannot tell. The arches in the upper part, with the attic above them, and the spire, are said to have been commenced in 1150, but not completed till 1517, under the direction of Bartolommeo Buono. At the foot of this towering mass is a loggia, now a lottery office, erected by Sansovino. The style would not do well for a larger building, and is rather what might be called monumental, than palatial, but it is good in its way, and for its object.
Sansovino was a sculptor as well as an architect, and very much employed at Venice in both arts; he died in 1570, at the advanced age of ninety. Buono abandoned Gothic details, but preserved much of the ancient disposition: Sansovino and Sanmicheli were the first who fairly introduced modern Italian architecture into this part of Italy, and both of them brought it from Florence.
I shall not pretend to give you observations on all Sansovino’s works, but I will mention two of his churches. That of San Martino is a square room with three recesses on each side, one of which, rather deeper than the others, forms the choir. The details are rather poor, but the distribution does not seem ill-chosen. The outside of S. Giorgio de’ Greci is altogether bad. The inside is an oblong room, not I think, very well proportioned or well decorated. Yet Moschini appeals to the judgment of his predecessors in confirmation of his own, that it is the finest of Sansovino’s works, full of “majesty and magnificence, and as, on the score of elegance, the artist has here touched perfection, so, in point of solidity, he seems to have erected a richly adorned castle.” It was thirty years in building, and the expense was defrayed entirely by subscription among the Greek inhabitants of Venice, and those who frequented that city. On the division which separates the sanctuary from the body of the church, are some paintings coated with silver, and having crowns, and other ornaments of gold attached to them, and leaving hardly any thing visible but the heads. I was assured that the painting was complete beneath this covering, and that the parts which were figured in low relief on the silver plate, corresponded exactly with the drawings behind it.
Besides these, and many other things, Sansovino gave the plan of the church of San Francesco della Vigna. A representation of the façade is given in a medal struck in 1534, but the patriarch of Aquileia, at whose expense it was to be built, not thinking it sufficiently magnificent, employed Palladio, in 1562, to make the design, which was afterwards executed. It appears that Sansovino’s plan, (already begun) was, in 1533, submitted to Francesco Georgi, a brother of the convent, who proposed to rectify the proportions according to what he calls Platonic principles, “I would,” said he, “that the width should be of nine paces, nine being the square of three, a prime and a divine number; and that it should have a triple proportion to the length, which should be of twenty-seven paces, forming a diapason and a diapente;” and then he goes on to say, that this relation and harmony was appointed by God himself, who thus fashioned the world, and directed Moses to observe it in the tabernacle, which was to be made according to the model shown to him on the mountain; which model, according to the opinion of the wise, was the world itself. The author proceeds through all the parts of the church in the same style. I do not wonder that men should have such dreams, nor indeed, that they should write them; but that they should think such dreaming to be reason, that they should publish them as such, and that the world should ever have received them as such, does seem to be a little marvellous.
With all these harmonious proportions, however, or without them, for I do not know if they were adopted, the inside is not beautiful; the outside does not at all correspond with it, and nobody need doubt that the building was the work of two architects. Palladio’s churches have all one general disposition in front, a pediment in the centre supported on half columns, and a sloping roof on each side, resting on a smaller order, whose horizontal cornice is continued, more or less perfectly, in the intervals between the larger columns. The effect is always in some degree as if a great pediment over the smaller order had been cut away for the purpose of introducing the larger; and on this account, I doubt if it would not be better, entirely to omit all trace of the smaller order in the intervals of the larger. However, though not absolutely perfect, these buildings are very graceful; and hitherto, no better mode seems to have been adopted, for accommodating the Roman architecture to the usual disposition of a Christian church. In the present example, the lower cornice is only continued in two or three flat members in the intercolumns, and there is a small projection in the wings, on which the cornice returns, so that these flat mouldings alone, are interrupted by the columns. Both orders are on a high continued pedestal, which breaks round the principal columns, and is cut through to admit the door. Over the door is a large semicircular window.
The church of the Redentore is altogether a design of Palladio, begun by him in 1578, two years before his death. Here the pedestal is not so high as in the preceding example; and instead of being cut through, there is a flight of steps up to the entrance. This does not leave room for a large window over the door. So far the design is superior to that of the before-mentioned edifice, and the composition is not the worse for taking a squarer form; but then, in order to obtain height, the architect has introduced a sort of attic above the pediment of both orders, and a roof rising above the attic; in which it is at least as much inferior. Internally, it has a fine, wide, single nave; and this simple disposition might well be imitated in our Protestant churches. The arrangement and colour of the lower part are beautiful, and if the vault were a semi, instead of a segment, and panelled instead of whitewashed, it might be cited as a perfect model of this mode of architecture. The termination of the choir wants consequence, and the plain whitewashed wall, behind the semicircular screen of columns, is absolutely disagreeable. The supports of the dome are good, and have no appearance of insufficiency.
The church of St. George was also designed by Palladio, and begun in 1556, though the front was not erected till 1610. This front, or at least, its central and principal division, is narrower, in proportion to its height, than in any other of Palladio’s churches. The larger order, as usual, is Composite, and the little order Corinthian. The general proportions are pleasing, yet the columns appear upon stilts, as each stands on its own lofty pedestal, between which the doorway is introduced, while the smaller order reaching to the ground, has its pilasters almost as long as the principal columns. There is no pediment over the door, the existence of which is rather a defect at the Redentore, but there is a great space not well occupied, above the secondary cornice. Internally, the church has a nave and two side aisles; but the piers are very solid, and admit no oblique view between them on entering the great door. The nave itself is much inferior to that of the Redentore. It is too short, and the pedestals are too high. The transept cuts the lines disagreeably; and the want of some projection, or alteration of plan, at the intersection, produces an effect of feebleness. The altars are all similar, simple, and good.
S. Niccola de’ Tolentini is perhaps one of the best works of Scamozzi. The front is a handsome portico of six Corinthian columns, but the leaves of the capitals are uncut; perhaps they have never been finished: and an opening in the middle of the pediment is disagreeable. The inside consists of a nave, with three chapels on each side; a transept with a dome at the intersection; and a choir somewhat narrower than the nave; which is perhaps, better than keeping it the full width: the proportions are good, but there is too much ornament.
The rest of Venetian architecture will be soon despatched. S. Pietro in Castello was built by Francesco Smeraldi. I mention the name of the architect, not that of the person who paid for the building; but it is astonishing to an Englishman to find how large a portion of these fine churches were built at the expense of individuals. It is an imitation of Palladio, with the pedestal cut through to admit the door, and the pediment surmounted by a ponderous attic: how different is the same composition when managed by different people! Internally, the nave is too short, and its lines are sadly interrupted by the large transept; it would have been handsome had this been omitted.