The Rough Guide to Venice and the Veneto

were struggles for influence, the battle lines being drawn between the Longhi, the
families who claimed descent from the city’s founders, and the Curti, whose genealogical
tables ran a bit short. An outside observer, exposed to the machinations of
Venice’s rulers, noted – “They kill not with blood but with ballots”.
The seeming compliance of the 98 percent of the population that was shut out from
active politics is largely explained by the economic cohesion of the city: its governors
were also its businessmen and its chief employers, so were unlikely to adopt policies
damaging to the financial interests of themselves and their workforce. The paternalism
of the Venetian system helped keep things quiet too – the public health measures
and emergency plans for bad harvest years were admired throughout Europe. And
when, on the odd occasion, the bosses did contemplate measures that would have
been unpopular outside the council chambers, there is plenty of evidence that “the
murmuring in the city” quickly put them right. In 1510, for example, a massive demonstration
in the Piazza persuaded the government that they should imprison the
defeated general whose arrest the people were demanding.
The doge
Regarding the doge, it’s a common misunderstanding that he was a mere figurehead,
confined to his palace under a sort of luxurious house arrest. It’s true that there were
numerous restrictions on his activities – all his letters were read by censors, for example,
and he couldn’t receive foreign delegations alone – but these were steps taken to
reduce the possibility that an ambitious leader might exploit his office, and they didn’t
always succeed. Whereas his colleagues were elected for terms as brief as a month,
the doge was elected for life and sat on all the major councils of state, which at the
very least made him extremely influential in the formation of policy. The dogeship was
the monopoly of old men not solely because of the celebrated Venetian respect for
the wisdom of the aged, but also because a man in his seventies would have fewer
opportunities to abuse the unrivalled powers of the dogeship. So it was that in 1618
a certain Agostino Nani, at 63 the youngest candidate for the dogeship, feigned a
life-threatening decrepitude to enhance his chances of getting the job. A neat summary
of the doge’s position was made by Girolamo Priuli, an exact contemporary of
Sanudo – “It is true that if a doge does anything against the Republic, he won’t be
tolerated; but in everything else, even in minor matters, he does as he pleases.” (For
a list of all the doges, see p.388.)
san marco
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The Palazzo Ducale
the building through the Porta del Frumento, under the arcades on the lagoon
side.
The interior
Several sections of the Palazzo Ducale (daily: April–Oct 9am–7pm; Nov–March
9am–5pm; entrance only with the Museum Card – see p.41) can be dealt with
fairly briskly. The building is clad with paintings by the hectare, but a lot of them
are wearying exercises in self-aggrandizement (no city in Italy can match Venice
for the narcissism of its art), and if you take away the paintings, there’s not much
left to some of the rooms. But it would be perverse not to visit so integral a part of
the city, and there are parts you will not want to rush. For this reason a visit needs
to be timed carefully. In high season scores of tour groups are being propelled
round the place by multilingual guides for much of the day. If you want any control
over what you get a look at, buy your ticket within half an hour of opening,
or a couple of hours before closing.
A word of warning: as with San Marco, restoration work is always taking place
somewhere in the Palazzo Ducale, and there is rarely any indication before you go
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