Splendours of Venice

Venice symbolizes complexity and continuity, contradiction and unique harmony. The city's natural and architectural features have coalesced as an extraordinary fusion of space, shapes and symbols. Over centuries, Venice has absorbed both the cultures of the Byzantine East and the Romanesque West; the vocabulary of Gothic architecture, and the influence of Arab and Moorish styles; the discoveries of Renaissance art and the extravagance of the Baroque. Yet in Venice these influences from elsewhere have been fashioned with uniquely Venetian style and character defined by the city's own space and environment. This book examines Venice's major architectural monuments - churches, palaces, scuole, private residences - interpreting their style, structure, and architectural intent - and explores in a similar vein the city's public areas - piazzas, bridges, roadways.