Site Visits

• The Rialto 
• Villa Emo and Villa Godi

Seminar Questions

• How did the economy of Venice evolve during the Renaissance?
• What was the relationship between economics and politics in Renaissance Venice?
• What role did guilds play in the economy and society of Venice?
• How did attitudes to and/or practices of consumption change in this period?

Core Reading

You should each read three of the following items:

• Chambers, David, and Brian Pullan (eds), Venice: A Documentary History 1450-1630 (Oxford, 1992; rept. Toronto, 2001), pp. 133-82.
• Fortini Brown, Patricia, ‘Behind the Walls: The Material Culture of Venetian Elites’, in Venice Reconsidered: The History and Civilization of an Italian City-State, 1297-1797Link opens in a new window, ed. John Martin and Dennis Romano (Baltimore, 2000), pp. 295-338. NetLibrary
• EITHER Lane, Frederic C., Venice: A Maritime RepublicLink opens in a new window (Baltimore, MD, 1973), Chapters 10-12, 20-23 [Still the best introduction to the economic history of Venice. The chapters are short]
• OR Pezzolo, Luciano, 'The Venetian Economy', in Eric A. Dursteler, A Companion to Venetian History, 1400-1797 (Leiden, 2013), pp. 255-89.

Documents

Sanudo, Marin, Venice, cità excelentissima: selections from the Renaissance diaries of Marin Sanudo, ed. and trans. Patricia H. Labalme and Laura Sanguineti White (Baltimore, 2008), pp. 227-84.

Indications for Further Reading

• Prosperity or hard times?
• Venice in an age of global trade
• The Terraferma
• Guilds, technology and innovation
• Material Culture and Consumerism

E-resource

Palladio and the VenetoLink opens in a new window. Descriptions and images of all Palladio's buildings (with English translations).