FOOTSTEPS: Venice

Venice’s history is written in stone and water, and the best place to begin our investigation is in St Mark’s Square. Created over a 700-year period, the buildings that adorn the piazza tell the story of the creation of the Venetian Republic, how it grew and how it was organised. The disposition of palaces, administrative buildings, public spaces and places of worship also tells us much about Venice’s relationship with the East and with religion.

Discover: The historical origins of St Mark’s Square and the Doge’s palace; the monuments ‘permanently borrowed’ from the East to adorn the square, some of Venice’s earliest public sculpture, tales of rebellion and stability commemorated around the square, and what’s being done now to preserve the square from flood damage.

The area around the Rialto Bridge of Venice was the Wall Street of the Middle Ages. Merchants and bankers from all over Europe and the East converged to trade both exotic and essential goods, while the Venetian state looked on, making sure all went smoothly, taxes and duties were collected, and agreements between merchants were honoured. Looking at monuments on both sides of the famous Rialto Bridge, we’ll get an in-depth understanding of the world of the Venetian merchant.

Discover: The souk-like lanes, trading places and glittering palazzi of the merchants, the role of the Venetian state in keeping trade under control and supporting the activities of its merchant nobles, and the role of foreign communities in Venice – unique for its time.

As Venice acquired a land empire in the 1400s (the present Veneto region) it increasingly used the visual language of the Italian Renaissance to express its place in the world. By the 1500s the ‘Venetian school’ of painting had become one of the most influential in Europe, and artists like Titian became international celebrities. Today we explore the church of the Frari and the adjacent Confraternity of San Rocco, both in the San Polo district. Completed in the mid-1400s, the Frari is a treasure trove of Renaissance art, with works by Donatello, Bellini, Titian and many others. The 64 canvases by Tintoretto that adorn San Rocco, and the equally magnificent carvings and marble floor of the confraternity, rank as one of the greatest statements of wealth and power through art in Europe.

Discover: Titian’s revolutionary main altarpiece and ‘Pesaro’ altarpiece in the Frari, exquisite marble and wood carving in the Frari’s choirstalls, Donatello’s only Venetian work for the Florentine chapel at the Frari, imposing marble funerary monuments to some of Venice’s greatest doges, and the vast wealth of the Venetian confraternities, whose middleclass members were excluded from political power in Venice.

The district of Castello is still one of the most remote in Venice, and its gentle rhythms are a world away from the tourist crush of St Mark’s. Castello developed around the medieval shipyards, the Arsenale, a marvel of medieval industry, whose 10,000 workers were reputed to be able to build and equip more than 300 ships per year. Nearby lived Greek, Dalmatian, Syrian and Armenian communities, many of whom were actively involved in Venice’s maritime activities. Our walking tour and lecture include both industrial and religious sites.

Discover: The remarkable scale of operations and production line-thinking behind Venice’s Arsenale, Carpaccio’s unique painting cycle in the Dalmatian confraternity of St George, the delightful and ancient parish church of San Giovanni and its early Renaissance masterpieces, Giovanni Bellini’s masterpiece, the San Zaccaria altarpiece.

Live tour: Venice’s Grand Canal
As a bonus feature we take a live trip along the Grand Canal from the Rialto to the island of San Giorgio, admiring the palaces which line the canal and seeing Venice as it was meant to be seen – from the water.