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.
Andrea dall’Aquila • Alessandro Vittoria • High Middle Ages • Venetian Republic • Urban History • Ancient Roman Capitals • Spolia • Early modern trade • Venetian Renaissance Sculpture • Concieri • Stones • Greek cruciform • Medieval town • Venice • History of Architecture • History of Venice • Marbles • Bridge of Rialto • Medieval • Early Byzantine Capitals • Venetian Trade Guilds • Lieu de mémoire • Church of San Giacomo at Rialto • Acqua alta • Giustizia • Venetian early modern architecture • Restoration • Basilica • Rialto • Medieval architecture • Byzantine • Romanesque • Early modern commercial institutions • Banks • Reuse of building materials • San Giacomo di Rialto • Venetian Architecture • Trading places • Reused materials • Vigilio Rubini