Layers of Venice
Architecture, Arts and Antiquities at Rialto
abstract
The book offers a greater understanding of the multiple layers of meaning that have been superimposed in the course of the Medieval and Modern Ages in the Rialto area. The authors follow the Leitmotiv of the memorial component that each operation of architectural reuse has carried in the history of the church of San Giacomo di Rialto, a building which stands, emblematically, as a sort of architectural relic. Adopting this principle, the book offers an in-depth analysis of the spatial model, the reuse of individual architectural and decorative elements but also, on a larger scale, the different configurations of the urban context (the Rialto market) through the centuries, after repeated destruction, reconstruction and transformation. By adopting this multi-scale approach, the book reveals the key role played by the church in the narrative strategy adopted to perpetually renew the myth of Venice, taking on a conceptual and polysemantic dimension where each component (object, context, meaning, function, image) constitutes an element cultural memory, with each leaving a tangible trace of its own.
Spolia • Venetian Republic • Early modern trade • Rialto • Stones • High Middle Ages • Venetian early modern architecture • Bridge of Rialto • Marbles • Alessandro Vittoria • Medieval • History of Architecture • Urban History • History of Venice • Acqua alta • Byzantine • Early Byzantine Capitals • Early modern commercial institutions • Concieri • Giustizia • Restoration • Basilica • Greek cruciform • Andrea dall’Aquila • Church of San Giacomo at Rialto • Romanesque • San Giacomo di Rialto • Trading places • Venetian Architecture • Banks • Venetian Renaissance Sculpture • Ancient Roman Capitals • Reuse of building materials • Venice • Medieval architecture • Reused materials • Lieu de mémoire • Medieval town • Vigilio Rubini • Venetian Trade Guilds