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N
RIALTO
EWS
ON TH E
No. 30 2011
Editorial Advisory Committee
Patricia Fortini Brown
Dept. of Art & Archeology
Princeton University
Robert C. Davis
Department of History
The Ohio State University
Paul Grendler
Emeritus Professor of History
University of Toronto
Edward Muir
Department of History
Northwestern University
Editor
Eric Dursteler
Department of History
Brigham Young University
Published with the support of the
Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, The Evans
Foundation, and the Department of History at
Brigham Young University.
For information, contact:
News on the Rialto
Provo, UT 84602 USA
Tel. (801) 361-2904
Fax (801) 422-0275
notr@byu.edu or www.newsontherialto.comLIBRARIES AND ARC HIVES
ARCHIVIO DI STATO, FRARI CENTRO TEDESCO DI STUDI ISTITUTO DI STUDI STORICI
S. Polo 3002, tel. 041-5222281; VENEZIANI S. Sebastiano
fax 041-5229220 Palazzo Barbarigo della Terrazza Monday - Friday 8:30-19:00
www.archiviodistatovenezia.it/ S.Polo 2765/a, tel. 041-5206355 Saturday 8:30-13:00
Monday – Thursday 8:20-18:00 www.dszv.it/index.html
Friday – Saturday 8:20-14:00 Monday – Wednesday 8:30-12:30; ISTITUTO VENETO DI SCIENZE,
& Friday 14:30-17:30 LETTERE ED ARTE
ATENEO VENETO Thursday 8:30-12:30 S. Marco 2945, tel. 041-5210177
Campo S. Fantin, tel. 041-5224459 www.istitutoveneto.it
Monday – Friday 9:00-12:00; COMUNE DI VENEZIA Monday – Friday 9:00-12:30
16:00-19:00 Castello 2737, tel. 5289261 15:00-18:00
Saturday 9:00-12:00 (call for information)
ISTITUZIONI DI RICOVERO E
BIBLIOTECA MARCIANA CONSORZIO PER LO SVILUPPO DI EDUCAZIONE
ECONOMICO E SOCIALE DELLA Castello 6691, tel. 041-2601974
S. Marco 7, tel. 041-5208788;
PROVINCIA DI VENEZIA Tuesday & Thursday 9:00-13:00
fax 041-5238803
Monday – Friday 8:10-19:00 Corte Pisano, S. Marco 2818,
tel. 041-700217 MUSEO CORRER, BIBLIOTECA
Saturday 8:10-13:30
Monday – Friday 9:00-14:00 S. Marco 52, tel. 041-5225625;
BIBLIOTECA QUERINI STAMPALIA fax 041-5200935
CURIA PATRIARCALE Monday, Wednesday,
Castello 4778, tel. 041-5225235
Tuesday – Friday 16:00-24:00 Castello 4312, tel. 041-5222034 Friday 8:30-13:30
Saturday 14:30-24:00 Monday – Friday 9:00-13:00 Tuesday, Thursday 8:30-17:00
Sundays & Holidays 15:00-19:00
DEPUTAZIONE DI STORIA PATRIA SOPRAINTENDENZA PER I BENI
BIBLIOTECA “RENATO MAESTRO” Biblioteca, S. Croce 1583, ARCHIVISTICI DEL VENETO
Ghetto Vecchio 1189, tel. 041-715012 tel. 041-5241009 S. Polo 3002, tel. 041-5222491
Monday, Wednesday Monday & Wednesday 15:00-18:00
Tuesday & Thursday 9:30-12:30 UNIVERSITÀ POPOLARE
Friday 9:00-13:00
Tuesday, Thursday 13:00-18:00 Piazza S. Marco 52, tel. 041-5287544
FONDAZIONE GIORGIO CINI: Segretaria:
BIBLIOTECA SAN FRANCESCO S. Giorgio Maggiore, tel. 5289900; Monday & Thursday 11:00-12:00
DELLA VIGNA fax 5238540 Tuesday & Friday 17:00-18:40
Castello 2786, tel. & Monday – Friday 9:00-16:30 Library:
fax 042-523-5341; Tuesday & Friday 17:00-18:40
ISTITUTO ELLENICO
e-mail: biblosanfrancesco@libero.it
S. Giorgio dei Greci tel. 041-5226581 UNIVERSITA’ DI VENEZIA,
Monday – Friday 9-12:30;
Monday – Friday 9:00-15:00 BIBLIOTECA:
13:30-17:30
Saturday 9:00-13:00 Ca’ Bernardo, tel. 041-5232463
CENTRO DELLE ARTI Monday – Friday 9:00-20:00
CONTEMPORANEE ISTITUTO GRAMSCI, EMEROTECA Saturday 9:00-14:00
tel. 5242062 Cannaregio 1575, tel. 041-717940
Monday – Friday 9:00-13:00 Monday, Tuesday,
Thursday 14:00-20:00
Wednesday, Friday 8:00-14:00
2
N E WS O N THE RIALTOAnNOUNCEMENTS
GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON VENETIAN CULTURE AND HISTORY:
The Trustees of the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation announce its annual call for applications for predoctoral and
postdoctoral grants for historical research on Venice and the former Venetian empire and for the study of contempo-
rary Venetian society and culture. Disciplines of the humanities and the social sciences are eligibile areas of study,
including (but not limited to) archaeology, architecture, art, bibliography, economics, history, history of science, law,
literature, music, political science, religion, and theater. The deadline for applications is December 15. Guidelines
and application forms are available from the Foundation’s website: www.delmas.org.
Delmas Commonwealth GRANTS FOR VENETIAN RESEARCH:
The Trustees of the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation of New York announce that up to £20,000 will be made
available to scholars from Great Britain and the Commonwealth for Research in Venice. The principal areas of
research envisaged concern both the past (art, architecture, history, law, language, literature, music) and the present
(conservation, culture, environment, politics) of Venice and the territories formerly subject to it. Further particulars
may be obtained from Miss Kerry Drakeley, Faculty of Arts Office, Room H0.45, University of Warwick, Coventry,
CV4 7AL (email: Delmas@warwick.ac.uk). Applications should be received by May 13.
ARCHIVIO DI STATO ONLINE:
L’Archivio di stato di Venezia annuncia che sono on line sia il Sistema informativo dell’archivio, che descrive tutti
i fondi archivistici e gli strumenti di corredo (finding aids) collegati, nonché, per circa la metà di essi, la rispettiva
articolazione in serie, sottoserie e - da poco iniziata, e per ora circoscritta a pochi fondi - anche le unità. I soggetti
produttori (le istituzioni o le persone o famiglie che hanno prodotto gli archivi) sono presenti, ma ancora in corso di
approfondimento.
E’ on line anche il Progetto Divenire, che mette a disposizione numerose serie riprodotte come immagine digitale
(Registri del Maggior Consiglio Senato e Consiglio di Dieci (fino all’anno 1500), nonché numerosi disegni, mappe e
pergamene con regesti.
VENICE LAGOON FOUNDATION:
The Forum for the Lagoon, of Venice, and the University of Minnesota have together set up the Venice Lagoon
Foundation, a charitable organization intended to promote studies on the condition and preservation of the Venetian
Lagoon’s ecosystem. Its first projects will deal with the reclamation of the island of S. Giorgio in Alga, the Forum’s
future home, and the opening of an “eco-museum” within the Arsenal of Venice. Website: http://www1.umn.edu/vlf/
home.htm
MUSEUM OF BIBLICAL ART:
The Museum of Biblical Art announces the opening of the exhibition Passion in Venice: Crivelli to Tintoretto and
Veronese. It will run February 11—June 12, 2011 at 1865 Broadway at 61st Street, New York, NY.
UK Venetian Seminar:
The annual Venetian Seminar was held 11 May 2010 at the John Rylands University Library, University of Man-
chester. For information regarding the 2011 or 2012 conference, please contact Mary Laven (mrl25@cam.ac.uk) or
Filippo de Vivo (f.de-vivo@bbk.ac.uk).
3
VOLUME 3 0 2 011ANNOUNCEMENTS
MEDITERRANEAN HISTORICAL REVIEW – it will include Western Continental Europe, Central and
CALL FOR PAPERS: East Central Europe, Mediterranean Europe, and northern
Mediterranean Historical Review is a bi-annual, refereed Europe. In an effort to avoid overlap with existing series, it
journal, published by Routledge. The journal is interested in will not publish works on the British Isles or on Russia.
receiving papers treating the history of the Mediterranean To submit an appropriate project for consideration,
basin, emphasizing contacts, relations and influences within please send a formal proposal or prospectus to the Series
a Mediterranean context, as well as questions of a compara- Editors. The proposal should include: 1) a brief but detailed
tive and comparable nature. For information: www.tau.ac.il/ synopsis of the work, outlining its intended contribution to
humanities/cmc/mhr/mhr.html, or mhrtau@post.tau.ac.il. the existing literature; 2) an abstract of 300 words or less,
summarizing the work’s content; 3) a complete Table of
ENGLISH WRITERS IN ITALY: Contents and one or two sample chapters; 4) an updated
English Writers in Italy is an informal association of English CV. Send to collinja@georgetown.edu or mholt@gmu.edu
and American writers based in various regions of Italy. Our
website is www.englishwritersinitaly.com. Our membership GIORNATA DI STUDIO:
includes novelists, poets, journalists, translators and aca- Il 12 maggio 2011, presso il Centro Tedesco di Studi
demics. We meet two or three times a year. The next meet- Veneziani si terrà una giornata di studi intitolata Musicisti
ing is in Umbria in May. We are currently putting together stranieri a Venezia tra polarizzazione culturale e mercato
a proposal for an anthology provisionally entitled Exiles in musicale (1650-1750), organizzata nell’ambito del progetto
Paradiso, about living, working and studying in Italy. franco-germanico MUSICI, che dal gennaio 2010 svolge
If you would like to join the association, or you have un’intensa attività di ricerca intorno al fenomeno dei musi-
a piece (300-2,500 words) to submit for inclusion in the cisti stranieri presenti nelle città di Roma, Venezia e Napoli
anthology, please contact Gay Marks g.marks@alice.it tra il 1650 e il 1750. Questa giornata di studi si propone di
delineare la città di Venezia quale centro di polarizzazione
CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS: culturale e mercato per eccellenza di beni e prestazioni,
The University of Rochester Press welcomes manuscripts in legati all’ ambito musicale nelle sue diverse sfaccettat-
its series: Changing Perspectives on Early Modern Europe. ure. La giornata sarà suddivisa in due sessioni, ambedue
With a number of titles already in print, this series has be- focalizzate sul periodo sopra indicato: la prima centrata
come one of the leading outlets for publishing monographs sull’influenza straniera nel repertorio musicale veneziano e
on early modern European history. Books in the series in- sulla presenza di musicisti non veneziani nelle diverse isti-
clude Megan C. Armstrong’s The Politics of Piety: Francis- tuzioni musicali della Serenissima, mentre la seconda sarà
can Preachers During the Wars of Religion, 1560-1600, J. dedicata all’importanza di Venezia quale polo di attrazione
B. Owens’s “By My Absolute Royal Authority”: Justice and per i musicisti e i costruttori di strumenti europei. Grazie
the Castilian Commonwealth at the Beginning of the First ad un’approcio interdisciplinare e secolare del fenomeno
Global Age, and Civic Christianity in Renaissance Italy: musicale straniero a Venezia, sarà possibile capire se, un
The Hospital of Treviso, 1400-1530, by David M. D’Andrea. secolo dopo la sua erezione a “sede della musica” da Fran-
cesco Sansovino, la Repubblica Serenissima era ancora nel
The editors of the series are James B. Collins, Profes-
1750 percepita tale dai musicisti stranieri.
sor of History at Georgetown University, and Mack P. Holt,
Professor of History at George Mason University. They are
assisted by a panel of distinguished scholars from a variety
of institutions. The editorial board is seeking a mix of titles
and formats, normally monographs by a single author. Our
current plan is to release 2-4 new works each year.
Changing Perspectives on Early Modern Europe brings
forward the latest research on Europe during the transfor-
mation from the medieval to the modern world. The series
seeks to publish innovative scholarship on the full range of
topical and geographic fields. Moving beyond the religious
focus of some existing series, Changing Perspectives will
include monographs on cultural, economic, intellectual,
political, religious, and social history. Chronologically, the
series will focus on the period 1400-1750. Geographically,
4
N E WS O N THE RIALTOAnNOUNCEMENTS
AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE MARCIANA: We would like to invite all the patrons of the Marciana, but
As no one knows better than the readers of News on the especially the forestieri who have benefited from this mag-
Rialto, the Marciana Library is one of the world’s great nificent Italian state institution, to join the Friends.
cultural resources, which has been granting public access Of course, your gifts are tax-deducible. Please send your
to its unparalleled collections for half a millennium. For the contribution to:
past nine years grants to the Marciana from The American
Friends have been contributing to new projects at the library, The American Friends of the Marciana Library, Inc.
and if you have worked there during that time you have 25 East End Avenue, Suite 15G
been a beneficiary of those grants. For the past few years all New York, New York 10028-7052
the funds from The American Friends have been dedicated
to entering the Marciana’s sometimes indecipherable hand- Many thanks,
written catalogues of printed books into the on-line data Edward Muir
base. These grants made it possible to continue the Golem President
project, the results of which have been integrated into OPAC
(On line Public Access Catalogue), which you can now
access from your office. As recent visitors to the Marciana BANCA DATI CIVES:
can testify, once they have negotiated their way through the
La banca dati CIVES: privilegi di cittadinanza veneziana,
construction dust, they have found vastly improved access
dalle origini all’anno 1500 contiene tutti i privilegi di citta-
to the library’s collections.
dinanza “veneta” trovati nelle fonti d’archivio fino all’anno
The Marciana has now become the leader among the 1500. Per ulteriori informazioni, vedi www.civesvene-
Italian state libraries in providing on-line services for its ciarum.net oppure R. Muller, Immigrazione e cittadinanza
patrons. That leadership role is manifest in the Marciana’s nella Venezia medievale (Roma, 2010)
sponsorship of a conference at the Palazzo Ducale on
“L’evoluzione dell’accessibilità informatica.” The Marciana GIORNATA DI STUDIO:
is setting the example. Il 3 giugno 2011 si terrà una giornata di studi intitolata El
As one of his final acts as the Marciana’s Director patron di tanta alta ventura: Pietro Avogadro tra Pandolfo
before retiring, Marino Zorzi began a campaign to digitize Malatesta e la dedizione di Brescia a Venezia presso la sede
the catalogue of manuscripts, a project that would parallel storica dell’Ateneo di Brescia in via Tosio 12.
what Golem has achieved for printed materials. This is an
exciting prospect for researchers in the Marciana, and The CESARE BARBIERI GRANT
American Friends have undertaken the responsibility for The Cesare Barbieri Endowment for Italian Culture (Trinity
helping to finance the costs of the campaign. College, Connecticut) will award a research grant in modern
The American Friends consist of people like you, schol- Italian history. The amount of the grant has been increased
ars who work in Venice. Many are not even Americans, but to $7,500 and the application procedure is streamlined. You
all love the Marciana and have been willing to contribute. will find all information at the the link below: http://www.
cbendowment.org/grant.
5
VOLUME 3 0 2 011ANNOUNCEMENTS
VENICE BEHIND THE MASK: to reflection and intellectual exchanges. A residence situ-
Under the patronage of the Ambassador of Italy to the ated in the grounds of the Island can accommodate up to 90
United States, His Excellency Giulio Terzi Sant’Agata, The scholars, allowing young researchers and expert scholars to
Embassy of Italy requests the pleasure of your company enjoy the mutual benefits of working side by side.
to attend “Venice: Behind the Mask,” a conference on the Researchers at the Vittore Branca Center will also have
history of Venice and its decline and its relevance to the privileged access to the Fondazione Giorgio Cini librar-
survival of nation states today. Friday, April 1, 2011, 12:30 ies and archives, specialized in the areas of art history,
p.m. to 5:15 p.m. Auditorium of the Embassy of Italy 3000 Venetian history, literature, music, dance and theatre, and
Whitehaven Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20008. RSVP to the literary, art, drama and music bequests housed in the
by March 28, 2011 to: events.washington@esteri.it or to tel. Foundation.
(202) 612-4410. Moreover, they will have free access to all cultural
events (courses, seminars, conferences, exhibitions, con-
GLI AMICI DI “THE MERCHANT OF VENICE”: certs, etc.) organized by the Giorgio Cini Foundation. Thus,
Dal 7 Maggio sono aperte le iscrizioni agli amici di “The for example, musicologists can attend seminars of historical
Merchant of Venice.” L’iscrizione darà diritto a ricevere le studies, while art historians can sit in on seminars on early
informazioni aggiornate sugli eventi prossimi e a participare music: both have the opportunity to explore the broader
alle numerose attività che si svolgeranno alla galleria “The cultural background to their own work.
Merchant of Venice” di Campo Sant’Angelo. Per ulteriori Researchers at the Vittore Branca Center will also have
informazioni, per cortesia controllare sul sito: www.themer- free access to a series of services, such as a workplace in
chantofvenice.org. the Nuova Manica Lunga library with Internet connection;
an international newspaper library; cultural initiatives spe-
JOURNAL OF EARLY MODERN HISTORY –
cifically aimed at residents; advice and information about
CALL FOR PAPERS:
libraries and archives of the main Venetian institutions.
The early modern period of world history (ca. 1300-1800)
Lastly, young researchers at the Vittore Branca Center
was marked by a rapidly increasing level of global interac-
can also benefit from the presence of a tutor who will assist
tion. Between the aftermath of Mongol conquest in the East
them in becoming familiar with the general set-up on the
and the onset of industrialization in the West, a framework
Island of San Giorgio Maggiore and its documentary and
was established for new kinds of contacts and collective
artistic heritage. Tutors will also advise researchers on cul-
self-definition across an unprecedented range of human and
tural events at the Giorgio Cini Foundation and in the city
physical geographies. The Journal of Early Modern History,
and will suggest which directors and collaborators in the
the official journal of the University of Minnesota Center for
Foundation’s Institutes and Research Centers can help them
Early Modern History, is the first scholarly journal dedicated
with their research projects.
to the study of early modernity from this world-historical
perspective, whether through explicitly comparative stud- Access to the Vittore Branca Center and all its facilities
ies, or by the grouping of studies around a given thematic, requires prior admission: see www.cini.it/centrobranca for
chronological, or geographic frame. more information.
JEMH invites submissions both of individual articles and
of proposals for special editions (which may appear up to
twice a year). For additional information visit the website
www.brill.nl/journal-early-modern-history.
VITTORE BRANCA CENTER SCHOLARSHIPS:
The Vittore Branca Center offers both scholarships (once a
year - http://www.cini.it/en/vittore/show/id/109 ) and co-fi-
nancing (all year long) to scholars willing to pursue research
in a field of peculiar interest to the Fondazione Institutes and
Centers.
The residential facilities on the Island provide scholars
and researchers with the opportunity to work and stay at
length on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice at
economically reasonable conditions in a setting conducive
6
N E WS O N THE RIALTObook notices
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A SEVENTEENTH- MOROSINI CODEX:
CENTURY RABBI: In 2010 Prof. Andrea Nanetti (Bologna) published the full
Princeton University Press announces the publication of Marc text of the Morosini Codex (chronicle of Antonio Moro-
R. Cohen’s book, The Autobiography of a Seventeenth-Cen- sini) in three volumes, with a lengthy introduction. Some
tury Venetian Rabbi: Leon Modena’s Life of Judah. additional essays and an index occupy a fourth volume. The
package is available from CISAM (Spoleto) for €298. The
VENISE, GUIDE CULTUREL: previous project to publish this chronicle with an English
Les Belles Lettres announces the publication of Jean-Claude translation, initiated by Michele Pietro Ghezzo and others,
Hocquet’s new book, Venise. Guide culturel d’une ville d’art will continue, since the frequent difficulties that are encoun-
de la Renaissance à nos jours. tered in the language of the chronicle make a translation
valuable.
LA FACCIATA DELLA CHIESA DI
SAN ZACCARIA A VENEZIA: RENEGADE WOMEN:
Il Prato announces the publication of La facciata della Johns Hopkins University Press announces the publication
chiesa di San Zaccaria a Venezia: Percorsi di storia e con- of Eric R Dursteler’s new book, Renegade Women: Gender,
servazione, eds. B. Aikema and E. Zucchetta. Identity, and Boundaries in the Early Modern Mediterra-
nean. In the narrow sense, the word “renegade” as used in
VENICE’S MOST LOYAL CITY: the early modern Mediterranean referred to a Christian who
Harvard University Press announces the publication of Ven- had abandoned his or her religion to become a Muslim. With
ice’s Most Loyal City: Civic Identity in Renaissance Brescia, Renegade Women, Dursteler deftly redefines and broadens
by Stephen Bowd. By the second decade of the fifteenth the term to include anyone who crossed the era’s and region’s
century Venice had established an empire in Italy extending religious, political, social, and gender boundaries.
from its lagoon base to the lakes, mountains, and valleys of Through Beatrice Michiel of Venice, who fled an
the northwestern part of the peninsula. The wealthiest and overbearing husband to join her renegade brother in Con-
most populous part of this empire was the city of Brescia stantinople and took the name Fatima Hatun, Dursteler
which, together with its surrounding territory, lay in a key discusses how women could convert and relocate in order
frontier zone between the politically powerful Milanese and to raise their personal and familial status. In the paral-
the economically important Germans. Venetian governance lel tales of the Christian Elena Cievalelli and the Muslim
there involved political compromise and some sensitivity to Mihale Šatorović, who both entered a Venetian convent to
local concerns, and Brescians forged their distinctive civic avoid unwanted, arranged marriages, he finds courageous
identity alongside a strong Venetian cultural presence. young women who used the frontier between Ottoman and
Based on archival, artistic, and architectural evidence, Venetian states to exercise a surprising degree of agency
Stephen Bowd presents an innovative microhistory of a over their lives. And in the actions of four Muslim women
fascinating, yet historically neglected city. He shows how of the Greek island of Milos—Aissè, her sisters Eminè and
Brescian loyalty to Venice was repeatedly tested by a suc- Catigè, and their mother, Maria—who together left their
cession of disasters: assault by Milanese forces, economic home for Corfu and converted from Islam to Christianity to
downturn, demographic collapse, and occupation by French escape Aissè’s emotionally and financially neglectful hus-
and Spanish armies intent on dismembering the Venetian band, Dursteler unveils how a woman’s attempt to control
empire. In spite of all these troubles the city experienced her own life ignited an international firestorm that threat-
a cultural revival and a dramatic political transformation ened Venetian-Ottoman relations.
under Venetian rule, which Bowd describes and uses to A truly fascinating narrative of female instrumentality,
illuminate the process of state formation in one of the most Renegade Women illuminates the nexus of identity and con-
powerful regions of Renaissance Italy. version in the early modern Mediterranean through global
and local lenses.
7
VOLUME 3 0 2 011B O ok N otices
THE MOURNING EMPORIUM: CRONICHA DELA NOBIL CITÀ DE VENETIA:
The sequel to Michelle Lovric’s critically acclaimed de- Il Centro di Studi Medievali e Rinascimentali “E. A. Cicog-
but, The Undrowned Child, entitled The Mourning Empori- na” annuncia la pubblicazione di Giorgio Dolfin, Cronicha
um, was published on October 29, 2010 by Orion Children’s dela nobil cità de Venetia et dela sua provintia et destretto
Books. Two summers ago, Venice was dying and an 11- (origini-1458), tomi III, a cura di Angela Caracciolo Aricò.
year-old girl made her first (so she thought) visit to the city La Cronicha di Zorzi Dolfin dalle origini al 1458,
where she instantly felt she belonged. Teodora, it transpired, rimasta inedita fino ai nostri giorni, tratta dal ms. It., cl.
was the undrowned child, destined to save Venice from its VII, 794 (=8503) della Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana di
long-standing enemy, Bajamonte Tiepolo, the traitor. Ac- Venezia, si colloca all’interno del gran mare della crona-
cording to a long ago prophecy, Teo and Renzo (the studious chistica veneziana delle origini, con caratteri di peculiare
son) were the only people equipped to defeat the baddened interesse, come la descrizione dell’articolato funzionamento
magic that the traitor brought to the stricken city. But they delle magistrature veneziane che costituisce un significativo
couldn’t kill him - and so, subdued, but bitter, he returned aggancio con il De magistratibus urbis Venetae (1497-
to his shadowy existence. Now he’s back. And in need of a 1515) di Marin Sanudo il giovane. Alla cronaca di Zorzi
new army, he sets his sights on London - which is weak with (1396-1458) si intreccia quella del figlio Pietro (1427-
mourning the death of the Queen, Victoria. Teo and Renzo 1506) che la arricchisce con preziose annotazioni desunte
find themselves on board a ship for orphans whose course dall’esperienza personale giungendo sino agli anni ’20 del
seems mysteriously set for London. Once again, destiny Cinquecento. Il ms che qui si pubblica costituisce un rebus
brings them face to face with their enemy, who will stop ermeneutico perché accanto alle mani di Giorgio e di Pietro
at nothing to destroy not only London and Venice but the si pongono altre due grafie, quelle dei nuovi possessori del
children at the heart of the prophecy that binds him to his volume che hanno arricchito il testo con annotazioni private
failure. e di cronaca che giungono fino agli anni ’30 del Cinquecen-
to. Il primo tomo va dalle origini di Venezia alla serrata del
LA CRONICA DI VENEXIA DETTA DI ENRICO Maggior Consiglio del 1297, il secondo giunge agli anni
DANDOLO: del dogado di Francesco Foscari ed il terzo alla caduta di
Il Centro di Studi Medievali e Rinascimentali “E. A. Cicog- Costantinopoli in mano turca con inediti slarghi sugli ultimi
na” annuncia la pubblicazione di Cronica di Venexia detta anni della vita del doge. Il terzo volume della Cronicha di
di Enrico Dandolo, a cura di Roberto Pesce. La Cronica di Zorzi Dolfin uscirà nel 2011.
Venexia dalle origini al 1362, finora inedita, è il primo testo Per ulteriori informazioni: sito: www.centrocicogna.it;
in volgare della tradizione cronachistica veneziana, steso in e-mail: info@centrocicogna.it
pieno XIV secolo in redazione anonima. L’edizione critica è
basata principalmente sul ms. H 85 inf. della Biblioteca Am-
brosiana di Milano collazionato con gli altri testimoni le cui
varianti più significative sono segnalate in apparato critico.
Lo studio della tradizione manoscritta ha permesso di met-
tere in luce un punto nodale dell’opera: la non attribuzione
autoriale del testo a Enrico Dandolo, cronista che finora era
stato identificato come l’unico autore dell’opera. La Cronica
offre molteplici caratteri di assoluta novità all’interno della
tradizione cronachistica delle origini: dal ricorso a leggende
e fonti poco frequentate o sconosciute, a racconti infrequenti
come quello della pazzia del doge Marin Falier, contempo-
raneo dell’autore.
La Cronica di Venexia detta di Enrico Dandolo, più volte
esemplata nel corso dei secoli, è un punto di riferimento
fondamentale per la tradizione cronachistica veneziana
del Quattrocento e del Cinquecento, venendo a costituire
un punto di riferimento forte nel panorama delle cronache
dell’epoca.
Per ulteriori informazioni: sito: www.centrocicogna.it;
e-mail: info@centrocicogna.it
8
N E WS O N THE RIALTOHOUSING IN VENICE
APARTMENT IN VENICE: utilities excluded. Contact: Angelo Di with full tub/shower, the other with
Located in Santa Croce, just around Tommaso - adtmms@gmail.com smaller tub), master bedroom, studio
the corner from the Riva de Biasio APARTMENT IN VENICE: with a very comfortable pull-out double
vaporetto stop. Room rental available in Very centrally located furnished apart- sofa-bed, dining room, living room,
an apartment shared with a very friendly ment of 60 sq m on the third floor of a and eat-in kitchen. Master bedroom and
Italian-American/Spanish couple who historical building. Close to Rialto, but living room have balconies on the Rio
live and work in Venice. Rental includes very quiet. All the main research centres di San Polo with a view of the Grand
private room, shared bathroom, kitchen are within easy reach (10 min. to the Canal. House is on a nice campiello
use, laundry machine, wireless internet/ ASV; 20 min. to the Marciana). The with plenty of light and air. Apartment
ADSL (unlimited), breakfast, and all util- apartment consists of a fully equipped has independent heating system and
ities. Room is fully furnished, however kitchen, a living room/sala da pranzo, tankless water heater, washer (no drier),
there is only one, double-size bed. Two bathroom with shower and washing ADSL, TV with VCR and DVD, stereo
person stays are possible, but we cannot machine, a smaller ‘stanza di passag- system. Convenient to the Archivio di
provide separate beds. Non-smoking gio,’ a spacious master bedroom and a Stato. Available for periods of up to one
apartment and no pets. Apartment is ‘mansarda’ that sleeps one. Has air con- semester. Photographs of the apartment
on the ground floor, plenty of light and ditioning. Price: 700 Euro a week, incl available upon request. Contact Giulio
large windows in each room, with a bed linen and utilities. For longer rental Ongaro at: gongaro@pacific.edu.
small, garden area outside. Although on periods the price can be discussed. For APARTMENT IN VENICE:
the ground floor, there are no problems information and photographs, contact Located on the 4th floor of Palazzo Bar-
with acqua alta in this zone. The Venice Federica Ruspio: ruspiofr@libero.it barigo alla Maddalena, the palazzo was
Archives and University are very close, rebuilt at the beginning of 1500, on the
as are local grocery stores (Campo San APARTMENT IN VENICE:
Spacious bright apartment (110 m2, Canal Grande, just in front of the church
Giacomo dell’Orio), banks, train station of S. Stae. It is well known for the exter-
and bus station. Weekly price is 230 Campo Santo Stefano) beloved by aca-
demics: on 2 floors, 2 double bedrooms nal frescoes of the same period, which
Euro. If you would like to see photos or are the only ones preserved in Venice,
have any questions, please contact Julie with ensuite bathrooms, modern living
room, large kitchen and 3rd bathroom. and at one time it was the home of Maria
at: jparsons@live.com Malibran. The apartment has been
Adsl, Cd player, lots of art books and
APARTMENT IN VENICE:
guides, very well equipped kitchen, completely renovated and furnished with
Located near the church of Angelo washing machine and desks, lamps and antique and modern furniture. From its
Raffaele in Dorsoduro. 15 minute work space, two long tables. Sleeps 6, 7 windows in the front a very large view
walk from Piazzale Roma, 15 minute ideal for couple and guests or 2 academ- is open on the Canal Grande, up to S.
walk from Accademia bridge. The ic sharing. References from previous Marco, Frari, S. Geremia. The apartment
apartment is fully furnished, with one tenants, and lots of suggestions from is about 75 square meters large, and is
bedroom (queen bed), one living room Venetians. Available for short and long composed of an entrance, a large double
with a sofa-double bed, a bathroom, lets. View pictures on www.casadolcev- bedded room, a smaller room with
a kitchen, six windows on the canal ista.com and email bunk bed, a dining room and a perfectly
of Angelo Raffaele. It is situated on lolasavini@hotmail.com for more info. equipped kitchenette, and a bathroom. A
the first floor, but has no high water fully equipped laundry is available on the
problems. The address is Sestiere APARTMENT IN VENICE: same floor. Children, pets and smokers
Dorsoduro, Corte Mazor, 2340 30123 Second floor apartment near Campo welcome. No lift. The monthly rent is
Venezia Italia. Available from Septem- San Polo in newer and quiet building. 1300 Euros. Minimum stay: 3 weeks.
ber 15, 2011, 700 Euros per month, Ca. 110 sq meters, 2 bathrooms (one Contact: Marina.Schenkel@uniud.it
9
VOLUME 3 0 2 011HOUSING IN VENICE
APARTMENT IN VENICE: APARTMENT IN VENICE: APARTMENT IN VENICE:
Spacious flat in Venice available from Fully furnished two-bedroom apart- Small one-bedroom, 2nd-floor apartment
mid June to the end of August. Located ment just off the Strada Nuova near the available in the very Venetian neighbor-
in Sant’Elena, the very green tip of the church of La Maddalena, a ten minute hood of Via Garibaldi, a ten-minute walk
island, 15 minutes from the sea, 15 min- walk to Rialto and a short vaporetto ride to Piazza San Marco and a twenty-min-
utes from Venice’s wonderful libraries. to the archives. The first (ground) floor ute vaporetto ride to the State Archives
I prefer to rent to an academic willing to has a bedroom with a queen-size bed, a on the express (82) vaporetto. It has
relocate here for the summer, and will smaller bedroom with a single bed, and windows which overlook a small internal
charge below market rent. a spacious bathroom with a bathtub and garden and a small balcony off the
Contact Enrico Palandri: ucljpal@ucl. shower. The second floor has a fully- kitchen which overlooks a small court. It
ac.uk equipped, eat-in kitchen and a sunny liv- has a trundle bed which can be set up as
APARTMENT IN VENICE: ing room overlooking a small court. The a double. In addition, it offers a number
Those of you seeking housing in Venice apartment is 700 sq ft total and includes of amenities not always available in
to share will find the home of Elsa a refrigerator/freezer, TV, telephone, Venetian rentals, including phone, wash-
Dalla Venezia warm and welcoming to and washing machine. Available for rent ing machine, dishwasher, portable air
scholars. Elsa offers a bedroom, shared year-round, except during the Christmas conditioner, tv and even a dual Italian- &
bath, use of kitchen and garden, wash- Holidays and two weeks in the Spring or American-system VCR. We prefer to
ing machine, TV, and phone. For further the Summer. Minimum rental period of rent it for the duration of the American
information contact Joanne Ferraro at two weeks preferred. Contact: Alessan- academic semester or year (from Sept. to
ferraro@mail.sdsu.edu or phone Elsa dro.Doria@joslin.harvard.edu mid-December and then mid-January to
directly at 041 5267002. APARTMENTS IN VENICE: mid-May), but will consider other rental
Two apartments for rent. 1. Smaller mez- periods, including academic breaks, if
APARTMENT IN VENICE: no long-term academic year renters are
Two minute walk from the Rialto va- zanine apt., ideal for one person or cou-
ple plus guest, air-conditioning, washing available.
poretto stop-- First floor apartment. Two
Bedrooms, dining room, living room, machine, dishwasher. Fully equipped.
two bathrooms, small, Internet-connect- 2. Large apt., very spacious, beautiful
ed office, small (fully equipped) kitchen. balcony on canal, two bedrooms, dining
Contact Marina Karem (mpkare01@ room, sitting room, kitchen, one bath-
louisville.edu) for more information and room, plus one bathroom with WC and
rental fees. basin, washing machine, entrance hall.
Wireless connection in the whole build-
APARTMENT IN VENICE: ing. Both very central, near Santa Maria
Spacious, first floor, fully furnished Formosa. Contact: mamoli@unive.it
apartment, next to the Fontego dei Tedes-
chi. Two large bedrooms, small study, APARTMENT IN VENICE:
large dining room with day-bed corner, Beautiful, one bedroom apartment with
living room with queen-size sleeper, all amenities available March 5-April 11,
two bathrooms, fully equipped kitchen, July 1-15, 2011; Academic year 2011-
washer/dryer, telephone. Suitable for 2012; rental for one person or a couple.
4-5 people. Scholars teaching in Venice Wireless access; large bedroom/study
or on Sabbatical leave preferred. Flex- with a double bed; equipped kitchen with
ible dates and rent fees. Contact Marina washing machine; salon with TV/VCR,
Karem at (502) 499-0213 or (in Sum- stereo system; comfortable bathroom.
mer) 011-39-041-5236991. mpkare01@ Area of Greek Community, convenient
louisville.edu location: 7 minutes to San Marco, 3
minutes to S. Zaccaria waterbus stop, 10
LISTING OF APARTMENTS: minutes to the shuttle to the airport.
A list of housing in Venice recom- Contact: Matteo Casini at mattcasini@
mended by scholars is available from yahoo.com , 1 (401) 245 3683
Linda Carroll in e-mail format. Castello 3338, 30123 Venezia, Italy
lincar@tulane.edu
10
N E WS O N THE RIALTOHOUSING IN VENICE
For information, interested parties can APARTMENT IN VENICE: “To build a city where it is impossible
contact Michelle Laughran off list at: Lovely furnished apartment near the
to build a city is madness in itself,
mlaughra@sjcme.edu famous Hotel Excelsior on the Lido
APARTMENT IN VENICE:
of Venice. Sunny and full of light, the but to build there one of the most
Private apartment for rent to scholars apartment (75 sqm) has two bedrooms,
elegant and grandest of cities is the
(for up to two months or times to be two bathrooms (both with showers),
agreed upon): no-smoking apartment on a spacious living room with open madness of genius.”
two floors located on Giudecca near the kitchen, and a laundry room. It also
features a large garden terrace (35 Alexander Herzen
church of Redentore with unexpected
and spectacular view of Palladio’s mas- sqm) overlooking the Hotel Excelsior’s
terpiece. Situated in the quiet, non-tour- dock, ideal for reading, relaxing, and
istic area of the Cantieristica Minore, al fresco dining. A five minute walk
overlooking an antique cloister’s garden, to the beach. Regular bus service to
with view up to the lagoon. About 60 the waterbus stop, from which Venice
sqm, plenty of light, entrance on third can be reached in 15 minutes. TV,
floor, elevator. One bedroom double bed washing machine, refirgerator+freezer,
(or two beds) and spacious living room stove+oven, air conditioning. Cleaning
with open, well equipped kitchen. Fully service every other week. Available
furnished, well organized in a personal, from 20 September 2011 to 20 May
modern style with paintings and some 2012. Two week minimum. Photo-
old objects, air-conditioning, two pull- graphs available upon request. Contact:
out armchairs that become single beds, arfzol@libero.it.
washing machine, dishwasher etc. Price:
1.000 Euro per month plus utilities.
No pets. Photos on request. Contact:
Caterina.Borsato@Berlin.de, Heiner.
Krellig@Berlin.de.
11
VOLUME 3 0 2 011D I S S E R TAT I O N S I N V E N E T I A N S T U D I E S
Il collezionismo poetico: Cardinal Pietro Bembo and the Formation of Collecting Practices in Venice
and Rome in the Early Sixteenth Century
Susan Nalezyty, Temple University, Ph.D. 2011
C ardinal Pietro Bembo’s accomplishments as the study of material culture and applies it to
a poet, linguist, philologist, and historian are Bembo’s mission as a collector. Chapter Four
well known, but his activities as an art collec- concludes with a statistical analysis of subjects
tor have been comparatively little studied. In and object types to which Bembo was drawn.
his writing, he directed his attention to the past In the extensive Catalog individual works are
via texts—Ciceronean Latin and Petrarchan examined in conjunction with one another and
Italian—for their potential to transform present considered for what they reveal about Bembo’s
and future ideas. His assembly of antiquities theoretical strategy. Appendix A is a timeline
and contemporary art served an intermediary outlining Bembo’s life. Appendix B is a chron-
function parallel to his study of texts. In this ologically ordered selection of accounts de-
dissertation I investigate Bembo as an agent of scribing Bembo as a collector and descriptions
cultural exchange by offering a reconstruction of his collection and his properties. Appendix
of his art collection and, in so doing, access C is a Bembo family tree. Appendix D pres-
his thinking in a way not yet accomplished ents by location known repositories for traced
in previous work on this writer. Chapter One objects that can be connected to Bembo’s
offers a historiographic overview of my topic collection. The recovery of Pietro Bembo as a
and collecting as a subject of art historical collector illustrates that his wide-ranging ambi-
study. Chapter Two maps the competition and tions were intertwined. His museum was not a
overlapping interests of collectors who bought place fixed in geography but, rather, a dynamic
from Bembo’s heirs. Chapter Three calls upon mechanism for transmitting the analytic power
anthropological methodology for treating and poetic potential he located in the visual.
12
N E WS O N THE RIALTOD I S S E R TAT I O N S I N V E N E T I A N S T U D I E S
Humanism and Faith. Servite Art in Venice: Patronage at Santa Maria dei Servi
Eveline Baseggio Omiccioli, Rutgers University
The Servites arrived in Venice in 1316 as a Little scholarly attention has been paid so
far to the Servite presence in Venice because
small group of friars from Florence but they
rapidly grew in number and importance thanks all four churches and connected monasteries
to the immediate support of the Venetians. associated with the order were suppressed by
It was through the generosity of a patrician, Napoleon. Santa Maria dei Servi was liter-
Giovanni D’Avanzo, that the Servites acquired ally dismantled and the site converted to other
the piece of land in San Marcilian where they purposes. Only two portals and wall sections
built their first oratory in 1316, which was integrated into a subsequent construction re-
a humble wooden construction, and it was main today of the original building. Also closed
through constant and abundant donations from were other Servite institutions in Venice like
eminent patrician families as well as wealthy San Giacomo (also called Santa Maria Novella)
Venetian citizens that the order was able to on Giudecca island, Santa Maria delle Grazie
pursue the ambitious project of erecting its in Burano, and Santa Maria del Pianto on the
major institution, Santa Maria dei Servi, in the Fondamenta Nuove. The purpose of my project
fifteenth century. The impressive construction is to re-trace the history of the Servites in Ven-
of a nineteen-hundred square foot church, with ice by means of a contextual re-construction of
twenty-two altars adorned with major works of their main church, Santa Maria dei Servi. My
art preserving precious relics, would have never attention will be equally devoted to an analy-
been possible without the contribution of Vene- sis of the remains of the building’s physical
tians and the particular privileges conferred to structure and of the major works of art that
the friars both by the ecclesiastical hierarchies once decorated its interior, now scattered across
and illustrious representatives of Venetian several churches in the Veneto and museums
civic power between the fifteenth and sixteenth in Europe and in the United States. Every
centuries. By the beginning of the seventeenth previous contribution to the study either of the
century the Servite order was among the most Servite order or of the art and architecture of
powerful religious institutions in the lagoon: Santa Maria dei Servi has been concentrated
in 1606 the Servite Paolo Sarpi was the first to on individual aspects pertinent to the discipline
hold the prestigious position of consultore in of the author. On the contrary, my research is
iure, the legal adviser of the doge, an office that multidisciplinary and involves social, politi-
was established in 1605 and was filled mainly cal, religious, liturgical, literary, and cultural
by Servite friars between 1605 and 1769. studies. I contend that the Servites played
an essential role in the complex dynamics of
Venetian religious and social practices, and
that they contributed in a formative way to the
foundation of humanism in Venice toward the
end of the fifteenth century. The ultimate goal
of my research is twofold: first, to understand
to what extent the art and the architecture of
Santa Maria dei Servi expressed the cultural
and religious beliefs of the order; and second,
to assess the depth and breadth of Servite influ-
ence within the broader Venetian context. The
investigation of the specific case of Santa Maria
dei Servi will be supported by a comparison
with three other Servite churches in Venice and
with institutions in the Veneto, such as Santa
Maria della Scala in Verona, Santa Caterina in
Treviso, and Santa Maria dei Servi in Padua.
13
VOLUME 3 0 2 011D I S S E R TAT I O N S I N V E N E T I A N S T U D I E S
Cultural Crossroads: the Old Testament and Identity in the Late Medieval Maritime Republics
Hilary Haakenson, Rutgers University
My current dissertation research, facilitated eage of Ham and the Muslims who inhabited their territory. This can be
by a Fulbright Grant, explores how, in the seen for instance in Marino Sanudo the Elder’s crusader handbook, the
fourteenth century, the simultaneous emergence Liber secretorum fidelium crucis. I argue that the use of Old Testament
of topographical mapping techniques in Venice, imagery in the sculptural façade; in contemporary crusader handbooks;
the re-emergence of Aristotelian understandings and also in the maps created by Pietro Vesconte between 1311 and 1322,
of space in Italy, and the monumentalization of which marked the first accurate coastal mapping of much of Europe,
Venice’s claims to Old Testament origins–ex- Asia Minor, and the Mediterranean, extrapolated from the traditional
emplified by the sculptural program on the rendering of Old rather than New Testament imagery on medieval Ital-
southern façade of the Palazzo Ducale–were ian mappaemundi in order to create a new chronologically and spa-
cognate phenomena that signaled the develop- tially cognizant geographical history. Thus, just as ancient Romans had
ment of an early modern historical geography. sculpted monumental maps into their walls and Charlemagne had carved
The façade program includes a monumental set large-scale representations of Rome, Constantinople, and the world onto
of relief sculptures depicting two Old Testa- silver tables to declare the scope of their reign, Venice incorporated Old
ment scenes, the Fall of Adam and Eve, and the Testament references bound up with medieval geography into both its
Drunkenness of Noah. It was later extended to cartography and civic sculpture to assert the modern and historicized
the western façade with the fifteenth-century purview of its sovereignty.
addition of a monumental Judgment of Solo- This research will contribute to my dissertation, entitled “Cultural
mon. The composition and subject of these Crossroads: the Old Testament and Identity in the Late Medieval
sculptures engage with geography and travel by Maritime Republics.” Between 1100 and 1450, the so-called “Maritime
mapping a world history. On the left corner of Republics” of Genoa, Pisa, and Venice were constantly embroiled in
the second-level loggia, Adam and Eve enact battles with one another. I propose that the monumental Trecento refer-
the fall, the catalytic event for the history of ences to the Old Testament, and especially to the sea-faring patriarch
man. The expanse of columns between this Noah, erected by each city, gave concrete form to the cities’ international
relief and the Drunkenness of Noah reflects the rivalry. In Genoa’s San Lorenzo Cathedral, a grand inscription occupying
progression of time culminating at the Second the length of the nave proclaims the city’s descent from Noah, Abraham,
Age of Man, which is fathered by Noah; the and Noah’s great-grandson Janus. In Pisa, Piero Puccio’s Old Testament
chronology proceeds around the southeast cor- frescoes in the Camposanto, the old cemetery legendarily created with
ner with the inclusion of Noah’s sons—Ham, earth from the Holy Land, exhibit an unprecedented expansion of the
Shem, and Japheth. lives of the Old Testament prophets and include a mappamundi in the
On Duecento and Trecento-world-maps, Creation scene. The frescoes worked in tandem with the sacred earth to
these names often appeared on Africa, Asia, transpose the topology of the Holy Land to Pisa and to assert the city’s
and Europe, referencing how the three sons geographical position as a major point of departure for pilgrims, crusad-
had dispersed after the Flood–each repopulat- ers, and merchants en route to the Holy Land. Thus, through my analysis
ing one of the three known continents. In part, of the Trecento-associations between cartography, pilgrimage, mercantile
the use of Old Testament figures to chart the exchange, and the Old Testament, my dissertation explores the socio-
earth recalls the importance Judaism placed on political role that public Old Testament monuments acquired to accom-
the location of events in contrast to its relative modate new maritime civic self-conceptions.
insignificance for the Christian tradition. The
same non-Christian need for place led travelers
like Marco Polo to recall repeatedly his visits to
Old Testament sites as he constructed a familiar
framework for his travels through regions such
as Alexandria, Armenia, and Jerusalem.
In addition, however, the “Curse of Ham,”
cast on the inferior son after he exposed his fa-
ther’s nakedness during the story of the Drunk-
enness of Noah, came to provide rationalization
for the often lucrative Crusades against the lin-
14
N E WS O N THE RIALTOresearching venice and the veneto
Archival Research and “Explorations” on the Island of Corfu
The traces of the long Venetian domi- which there are almost 11 linear KM of d) Of special interest to those
nation in Corfu (1204-1214 and 1386- documents essential to our knowledge studying economics and demographics
1797) are visible to its visitors as soon of the island’s history. is the archive of the Sanità of Corfu,
as they arrive, either by boat, which The GSAC, now kept in a build- consisting of 473 files spanning the
connects the port of the northernmost ing which was the barracks of British years 1673 to 1858 and including death
Ionian island with the Greek mainland soldiers in the nineteenth century, certificates, health certificates for pas-
(1.5 hours from Igoumenitsa) and the has a long history. Its foundation was sengers and ships, lists of departures
Italian coasts (approximately 24 hours decided in 1443, when the Venetian and arrivals of passengers and ships,
from Venice, 19 hours from Ancona, Senate complied with the request of correspondence, etc.;
7-8 hours from Bari and Brindisi) the Community of Corfu to set up an e) An equally important archive on
or by airplane, on international and archive of documents relating to the the historical demography of the island
domestic flights (from Athens and management of affairs by the local are the 335 files held by the Orthodox
Thessaloniki). authorities and the privileges of the churches of Corfu, covering the period
The two fortresses, around which local Community. It was agreed that from 1650 to 1858 and recording the
the defenses of the former headquar- these documents would be kept in the registering of baptisms, marriages and
ters of the provveditore general da secretariat of the Venetian bailo (this deaths.
mar were structured, dominate the building presently houses an elemen- A large part of the archival material
urban landscape of Corfu and con- tary school, in Psoroula Square). relating to subsequent periods, until
tribute significantly to shaping the Although the GSAC includes parch- the union of the Ionian Islands with the
architectural physiognomy of the old ments from the fourteenth century and Greek State (1864), is written in Ital-
city. But a tour round the historic cen- numerous other documents from the ian, as this was for centuries the only
tre of Corfu reveals that the influences fifteenth, the bulk of the material dates language in which the islanders were
from British rule (1815-1864) are from after 1540, since many earlier trained at a higher level.
equally strong. Spianada (Esplanade), documents were destroyed during the
the square which the Venetians began In general, research in the archives
Ottoman siege in August 1537. Apart of Corfu is invaluable for confirming
to lay out from the second decade of from the rich notarial archive contain-
the sixteenth century, as empty ground and/or enriching information on issues
ing 3,262 files and over 10,000 wills, already studied in the archives of Ven-
between the Old Fortress and the which documents are written mainly in
borgo, where hostile armies besieg- ice. These concern not only the history
Greek and a small percentage in Ital- of Corfu or of the Ionian Islands, but
ing the island would be exposed to ian, more rewarding archival series for
Venetian cannon fire, is the ideal place also of other areas of wider geo-
those who are better prepared to study graphical interest. This is because the
to observe the coexistence of Venetian Italian manuscripts are:
and British influences in the cityscape northernmost island in the Ionian Sea,
of Corfu. a) Enhorios Diaheirissis (Domestic having the function of a main admin-
Administration), consisting of 2,295 istrative and commercial centre of the
On the north side of Spianada files, which refer inter alia to the man- Venetian Stato da Mar, was a common
stands the palace of the British High agement of the property of the Ortho- port of call for those traveling from
Commissioner, completed by George dox and the Catholic Church during the Dominante to the Levant and vice
Whitmore in 1819, which today houses and after the end of the Venetian rule versa. Given these conditions, Corfu
the Museum of Asian Art. In the (1386-1926); may be seen as a suitable observa-
southern part stands a building which tory for monitoring activities of much
was the seat of the Ionian Academy, b) Enetokratia (Venetian Domin-
ion), consisting of 108 files, which larger ambit than the local-regional.
the first university in Greece, founded
in 1824 on the initiative of Frederick make up the archives of the Commu- On coming out of the archives of
North, Earl of Guilford; during the Ve- nity of Corfu (1386-1797); Corfu, it is a good idea to take a break
netian dominion the military barracks, c) Enetiki Dioikissi (Venetian Ad- at the café-bar and restaurant “Old
named Pasualigo, stood here. On the ministration), consisting of 1,261 files, Fortress.” It is built on the site of the
east side of Spianada is the Old For- including decisions of the Venetian seat of the Venetian provveditore et
tress, which today houses the General government, local (reggimento) and capitano, which was destroyed in
State Archives of Corfu (GSAC), in central, as well as court proceedings; 1943, when the island was bombed
15
VOLUME 3 0 2 011researching venice and the veneto
relentlessly by the German Luftwaffe, preserves and liqueur made from kum- and Archive “Nikolaos Halikiopoulos
and offers a superb view to the south quat, a small citrus fruit resembling the Mantzaros,” which include many docu-
of the island and the coast of Epirus. tangerine, the trees of which are also a ments referring not only to its adminis-
Recommended next is a visit to the British import from China. trative history, but also to the interac-
Public Library, which is a continua- From the main street of Spianada, tions between Greek and Ionian music
tion of the GSAC building, occupying with its arcades constructed in the and Italian music during the nineteenth
a space of about 1,800 sq. metres. It years of the first French domination and the early twentieth century.
is one of the oldest public libraries in (1797-1799), many streets lead off into At the point where the historical
Greece and in its checkered history has the heart of the old town. These are centre ends and the new town of Corfu
been housed in various premises and filled with shops selling souvenirs and begins is Saroko Square (named after
has survived major disasters, such as stores serving daily commercial traffic the fort San Rocco). A few metres
the bombardment of 1943. Neverthe- throughout the year. The old town is beyond the square, at 72 Ioannou
less, its shelves hold numerous old home to numerous cafés and restau- Theotoki St, is the Ionian University,
books relating to the history and cul- rants, in small picturesque squares established in 1985 and comprising
ture of Corfu. Furthermore, it remains formed between the multi-story build- six departments, including the Depart-
open until late afternoon, facilitating ings of the Venetian and British period, ment of History and the Department
the work of researchers, in contrast to such as the beautiful Mikro Kafe of Archival and Library Sciences. The
the GSAC, which closes for research- (Small Café) in St Basil’s Square. Library of the Ionian University, in ad-
ers at 13:00. On the north side of Spianada, a dition to its typical academic holdings,
The Old Fortress, when the weather short distance from the former palace includes most of the books written on
permits, offers more activities, such as of the British High Commissioners, is the history and culture of the Ionian
swimming and snorkeling along the the Reading Society of Corfu (RSC), Islands.
Mandraki beach, a few metres away which was founded in 1836, following A question mark still exists as to
from the naval port of the Venetians, the model of the Societé de Lecture de the exact content of the archives of the
which in the early sixteenth century Genève. Apart from a rich collection of Holy Metropolis of Corfu and Paxos,
was able to accommodate ten galleys paintings of landscapes of Corfu, the which represent the Orthodox Church.
and a host of small boats. Currently, RSC has valuable collections of maps And this because the indexing of their
Mandraki is a marina for yachts and and engravings, and a great collection contents on the basis of archival norms
there is a nice restaurant where the gal- of about 7,000 books of Ionian interest and the opening of them to researchers
leys once anchored. dating from the seventeenth century. do not seem to be a priority.
The exit from the Old Fortress Equally important are the dozens of The archives of the Catholic
brings you back to Spianada, which, archives of historical, economic and Archdiocese of Corfu include but a
when it does not rain – something rare artistic interest, acquired by the RSC small number of files of demographic
in Corfu from autumn to early sum- through donations and purchases. character (17th-20th cent.), mainly be-
mer – has a festive air, with colorful Outstanding among them is an archive cause the building of the Archdiocese,
nature as the main star. Around and consisting of hundreds of letters of per- including its archive, was destroyed on
behind Spianada there are several sonal interest written by or addressed the evening of 14 September 1943.
small hotels, which have the advantage to Frederick North, Earl of Guil-
ford. Furthermore, the RSC archives The researcher should not expect to
of being within walking distance of find the archives of the Jewish com-
the archives and libraries, as well as includes a collection of some 1,000
flyers-pamphlets, many of which are munity. Although it was believed that
the historical centre of the town, with these were completely destroyed ιn
its lively nightlife. So, you can avoid extremely rare, such as the Nelson’s
proclamation to the Ionian Islanders on 1943, there is recent information, yet
transportation by bus or by car in the unconfirmed, that the archives of the
mornings, not to mention the headache 9 October 1798.
Jewish community or at least a part
of parking, and gain valuable time for Founded more or less concurrently of these, were sold in the 1960s to a
research in the archives. with the RSC (1840) was the Corfu library in Israel.
There are also many restaurants Philharmonic Society, known as the
Old Philharmonic, one of the eighteen Archives and libraries outside
and cafes around Spianada. In spring the city are few. Some of them are
and summer some of them serve the that currently exist on the island, four
of them in town. Recently the Old known and documented, such as the
beverage tsisibira (ginger beer), a rich “George Theotoky” library and
heritage of the British rule, as well as Philharmonic acquired its Museum
16
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