Venetian Architecture

Kevin Fernando, Miriam Korngold, Andrew Shubin, Nina Tan

Part I: Byzantine Examples

1. The incrustation of brick with more precious materials.

Church Of San Giacomo di Rialto.

2. Mouldings along the Grand Canal

3. The favored convex capital is modeled after flowers that “form rounded cups…the leaves springing horizontally from the stalk, and closing together upwards.”

According to the Byzantine mind, the unpleasant concave column is modeled after the “trumpet-flower in that the lower part of the bell is slender, and the lip curves outward at the top.”

4. The symbol for Resurrection, the peacock, encrusted three times on the side of an apartment building in Venice.

Part II: Gothic Examples

1. A second order window on a building along the Grand Canal

2. Third and fourth order windows on buildings along the Grand Canal.

3. A glorious example of Gothic beauty that is reminiscent of the Ducal Palace, found while riding down the Grand Canal:

4. The ever occurring Venetian Dentil:

Part III: Renaissance Examples

1. Groups of colored marble circles can be found on the building below as seen from the Grand Canal.

2. A colorless stone building of the Renaissance as seen from the Grand Canal.

3. An ugly Renaissance style building that now houses Gallery of International Modern Art, as seen from the Grand Canal.

This building is an example of Ruskin’s disdain for Renaissance architecture, especially the “theatrical” mess of figures surrounding the arched entryway and the dull gray stone carved in all sorts of shapes. Ruskin would view the gaudiness and the excess of carved stone as a large step away from what he viewed as refined architecture, for which he favored the Gothic style. His critique of Venetian Renaissance architecture specifically was of the “meaningless ornamentation” of the buildings, the “rigid formalism” of the rectangular windows and heavy structure, its “perfect finish, its cold tranquility,” all of which are evident even in this small section of the building. Ruskin preferred a building’s material to gracefully reflect its natural qualities, and would have strongly disliked the “truncated pyramid pattern” and the individually carved stone blocks of this building.

Jeff, Carol, Laura, Genesis

Part I: Byzantine Examples

1) Incrustations: Taken near Accedamia

2) Mouldings
3) Convex; taken on the island of Torcello ... and Concave
4) Peacock; three found on route to Murano via the Grand Canal

Part II: Gothic Example

1) Second order windows; taken on route from our hotel to a water taxi stop on the Grand Canal

2) Third and fourth order windows; taken near San Stefano
3) Gothic
4) Venetian dentils (Mark blessing Anianus); found on a church in Campo San Tomo

Part III: Renaissance Examples

1) Coloured Marble Circles; found on the Grand Canal during a water taxi ride

2) Barren stone; back of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari Church
3) Ruskin's disdain; found near Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari
(Example is center church). Ruskin would agree with our choice because this building lacks the pointed arches or tall spires token to the Gothic architecture that he preferred. The building is also void of all color which, in Ruskin's eyes, fails to give the church an appealing facade. In addition, the symmetrical nature of the architecture would have irritated Ruskin because of its 'boring' and repetitive nature. In his eyes this building would seem “childish” because of its simplistic look that does not portray the builder’s artistic ability.

Cindy, Katie, Sarah, Nick G.

Part I: Byzantine Examples

1. "Now the first broad characteristic of the building, and the root of every other important peculiarity in it, is its confessed incrustation. It is the purest example in Italy of the great school of architecture in which the ruling principle in the incrustation of brick with more precious materials…"
   

2. "If we pass through the city looking for buildings which resemble St. Mark's – first, in the most important feature of incrustation; secondly, in the manner of the mouldings, we shall find a considerable number."

3. "There are two great orders of capitals in the world… one of these in convex in its contour, the other concave; richness of ornament, with all freedom of fancy, is for the most part found in the one, and severity of ornament, with stern discipline of the fancy, in the other."

Of these two families of capitals both occur in the Byzantine period, but the concave group is the longest-lived, and extends itself into the Gothic times.

There characters may be best generally represented by considering both families as formed upon the types of flowers; the one upon that of the water-lily, the other upon that of the trumpet-flower. The convex family is modeled according to the commonest shapes of that great group of flowers which form rounded cups, like that of the water lily, the leaves springing horizontally from the stalk, and closing together upwards. The rose is of this family; the crocus, amemone… are formed upon this same type. The concave family resembles the trumpet-flower in that the lower part of the bell is slender, and the lip curves outward at the top. The concave group, however, was not naturally pleasing to the Byzantine mind. Its own favorite capital was the bold convex or cushion shape, so conspicuous in all the buildings of the period…"

4. "The peacock, used in preference to every other bird, is the well0known symbol of the Resurrection, and when dinking from a fountain or from a font is, I doubt not, also a type of the new life received in faithful baptism."

Part II: Gothic Examples

1. "The second-order window soon attained nobler development. At once simple, graceful and strong, it was received into all the architecture of the period, and there is hardly a street in Venice which does not exhibit some important remains of palaces built with this form of window in many stories and in numerous groups."

2. Find examples illustrating the third and fourth window orders.

3. "…A glorious example of the central Gothic, nearly contemporary with the finest parts of the Ducal Palace."

4. "Nothing was ever, or could be ever invented, fitter for its purpose, or more easily cut. From the arch therefore it found its way into every position where the edge of a piece of stone projected, and become, from its consistency of occurrence in the latest Gothic as well as the earliest Byzantine, most truly deserving of the name of the 'Venetian Dentil'."

Part III: Renaissance Examples

1. "The palaces in which Renaissance is engrafted on Byzantine are characterized by an ornamentation closely resembling, and in some cases identical with, early Byzantine work; namely groups of coloured marble circles (serpentine and porphyry) enclosed in interlacing bands."

2. "…and although the Venetian painters struggled long against its influence, the numbness of the architecture prevailed over them at last, and the exteriors of all the later palaces were built only in barren stone. As at this point of our inquiry, therefore, we must bid farewell to colour."

3. "It is impossible to conceive a design more gross, more barbarous, more childish in conception, more servile in plagiarism, more insipid in result, more contemptible under every point of rational regard."

Why Ruskin would agree with our pictorial choice:

The most noticeable elements of the building are the columns which are mixed and matched, Ionic on the lower level and Corinthian on top. The Corinthian columns are extremely simple, lacking in artistry, and all the columns are engaged blocks rather than cylindrical. The entablature between the two levels of the building is very plain, and is missing a frieze just like the pediment at the top of the building. The bass relief shield emblems on the second level lack detail and add to the barren look of the building, while the first level windows are simple rectangles lacking any ornamentation such as arched shape or moulding. The conglomeration of all of these oversimplified elements creates a building that overall seems very blocky, uninspired and contrived.

Lauren/Nick/Jenny/Dan

Here is our Venice project!

Pt 1: Byzantine

"Now the first broad characteristic of the building, and the root of every other important peculiarity in it, is its confessed incrustation. It is the purest example in Italy of the great school of architecture in which the ruling principle in the incrustation of brick with more precious materials…"





"If we pass through the city looking for buildings which resemble St. Mark's – first, in the most important feature of incrustation; secondly, in the manner of the mouldings, we shall find a considerable number."



"There are two great orders of capitals in the world… one of these in convex in its contour, the other concave; richness of ornament, with all freedom of fancy, is for the most part found in the one, and severity of ornament, with stern discipline of the fancy, in the other."

There characters may be best generally represented by considering both families as formed upon the types of flowers; the one upon that of the water-lily, the other upon that of the trumpet-flower.

The convex family is modeled according to the commonest shapes of that great group of flowers which form rounded cups, like that of the water lily, the leaves springing horizontally from the stalk, and closing together upwards. The rose is of this family; the crocus, anemone… are formed upon this same type.



The concave family resembles the trumpet-flower in that the lower part of the bell is slender, and the lip curves outward at the top. The concave group, however, was not naturally pleasing to the Byzantine mind. Its own favorite capital was the bold convex or cushion shape, so conspicuous in all the buildings of the period. Of these two families of capitals both occur in the Byzantine period, but the concave group is the longest-lived, and extends itself into the Gothic times.




"The peacock, used in preference to every other bird, is the well0known symbol of the Resurrection, and when drinking from a fountain or from a font is, I doubt not, also a type of the new life received in faithful baptism."



Pt 2: Gothic examples

"The second-order window soon attained nobler development. At once simple, graceful and strong, it was received into all the architecture of the period, and there is hardly a street in Venice which does not exhibit some important remains of palaces built with this form of window in many stories and in numerous groups."



3rd order and 4th order



"…A glorious example of the central Gothic, nearly contemporary with the finest parts of the Ducal Palace." (this is a museum near Academia)



"Nothing was ever, or could be ever invented, fitter for its purpose, or more easily cut. From the arch therefore it found its way into every position where the edge of a piece of stone projected, and become, from its consistency of occurrence in the latest Gothic as well as the earliest Byzantine, most truly deserving of the name of the 'Venetian Dentil'."



Part 3: Renaissance

"The palaces in which Renaissance is engrafted on Byzantine are characterized by an ornamentation closely resembling, and in some cases identical with, early Byzantine work; namely groups of coloured marble circles (serpentine and porphyry) enclosed in interlacing bands."



"…and although the Venetian painters struggled long against its influence, the numbness of the architecture prevailed over them at last, and the exteriors of all the later palaces were built only in barren stone. As at this point of our inquiry, therefore, we must bid farewell to colour."



"It is impossible to conceive a design more gross, more barbarous, more childish in conception, more servile in plagiarism, more insipid in result, more contemptible under every point of rational regard."



Ruskin would agree with our choice because of the gaudy decor of this building. There are simply too many "art forms" going on in one building--the sculpted people atop the roof, the detail of the moulding, the intense incrustation, the marble wreaths, the detailed columns, the half-circle window with 2 columns. The building is simply too decorated so no feature stands out and takes presence. Instead, all of it strikes you at once; instead of glorifying the building it detracts from the look by making it look cluttered. There seems no pattern to the madness, simply a demonstration of money. Ruskin would have hated how disgustingly ornate all the sculptures are and how it was a move away from the gothic architecture he prefers.