Venetian Architecture - Myth vs. Reality

Introduction When looking at the republic of Venice in Italy of the Quattrocento and Cinquecento, the paradigm of fabrication versus reality has been both prevalent and highly debated in the encyclopaedism of Donald Queller, Edward Muir, David Rosand, and Robert Finlay, among others. However, the so-called myth of Florence on the other hand has non been challenged to the extent to which the Venetian myth has. To project the myth of Florence is to consider its origin myth: how the city of Florence came to be. What modern day scholars call to as the myth of Venice, can be aptly set forth by Rosand as: an ideally formed state, miraculously amalgamation in its exemplary structure the best of governmental types that is, monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy, and close significantly, institutionalizing this harmonic structure in a constitution that was to cheer up other nations for centuries.[1] The disparities between the myths of Florence and Venice are complex; thusly the end of this particular work is diverse.

First, I wishing to examine the reasons wherefore the myth of Venice seems to be more historiographically prominent than the myth of Florence through and through the examination of the nature and origin of the myths, their respective realities and to what degree fifteenth and 16th century art is representative of these myths both thematically and stylistically. Next, through the examination of political, civic and cultural iconography, I wish to examine the extent to which these republics constructed their own images based on the design Jacob Burkhardt calls, self-fashioning[2]. Finally, I argue that while there are many shortcomings to the myth of Venice in its representation of itself as a arrant(a) republic, to call her political reality of the 16th century a myth is an acute argument. I Origin of the Myths The daunting task of examining how and why Venice was able to self-represent herself so effectively and Florence was not, begins with the exploration and understanding of these... If you call for to get a full essay, order it on our website: Orderessay

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