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The first building dates back to the beginning of the 9th century when
the Partecipazio family moved the seat of government to the Rialto islands.
Probably first built as a castle, it was rebuilt for the first time in
976 after the fire caused by the uprising against Doge Candiano IV.
The Palace was completely restored, in the style of Venetian palaces during
the office of Doge Sebastiano Ziani.
But the appearance of the Ducal Palace as we know it today was determined
by the building of the Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Great Council Hall),
approved in 1340.
Once the state had totally established the end of oligarchy and with an
increase in Venetian magistracy, the Maggior Consiglio maintained its
position as the sovereign body, controlling State public functions, which
was to last as long as the Republic. Entry into the Maggior Consiglio,
as we known, was by the hereditary right passed on by ancestors and in
1340 it counted 1212 members.
Construction ex novo of the room took place over a long period: in 1348
works had already begun, in fact, the room was already structurally completed,
but a first pause ensued due to the plague. Work gradually started again;
and only in 1365 did Guariento complete the fresco depicting the Coronation
of the Virgin.
Another pause must have occurred to coincide with the Chioggia war; only
in 1382 was the new hall ordered and further financial investment made.
Finally in 1400, building began on the balconies in the halls of the Maggior
Consiglio overlooking the church of St. George.
The Palace wing facing the quay only assumed its final form in 1419 and
the hall was officially inaugurated.
As the Basilica represents the triumph of the Venetian Byzantine style,
the Ducal Palace exalts the flamboyant gothic, which gave the city, along
with other imitations, its distinctive appearance.
In 1422 it was decreed to extend the same style to other buildings towards
the Piazzetta (Little Square) as far as the Porta della Carta (Main Gate)
that was built in 1440.
The uniqueness of the impressive Palace is in its reversed dimensions,
above the colonnade is the loggia with its characteristic series of arches
stretching the whole length of the two façades (the loggia overlooking
the Piazzetta is 75 metres long with 18 arches, the other overlooking
the quay is 71 metres long with 17 arches), while its grandeur is rendered
less imposing by the white and red marble rhombi as far as the open cusp
lace-work.
The three foreign corners of the Palace are decorated with 3 marble compositions
representing the Drunkenness of Noah facing the Ponte della Paglia, Adam
and Eve's sin in the corner between the Piazzetta and the Quay and The
Justice of Solomon towards the Porta della Carta.
The thirty-six gothic capitals of the colonnade arches are themselves
a wonderful complex of medieval sculpture with symbolic figures including
themes that were popular at the end of the 14th and early 15th centuries:
Vice and Virtue, celestial constellations, knights, martyr saints, trades
and birds.
The capital on the corner of the Piazzetta and the Quay depicts the signs
of the zodiac. Porta della Carta, the monumental entrance to the Palace,
has magnificent decorations, just like its original colours, with its
polychromatic gold and sky-blue.
At the top are the symbolic statues of Justice and in the four side niches,
Temperance, Strength, Prudence and Charity.
The central sculpture represents the winged Lion with the Doge Francesco
Foscari kneeling before it. The façade facing the Quay was partly restored
after the fire of 1577 and the painting by Guariento, which was destroyed,
was replaced by the great painting Paradise by Tintoretto.
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