Although the Basilica was the spiritual home of the city it was the Doge's Palace next door wich held political control.
The entrance is through the Porta della Carta, immediately to the left on leaving the Basilica. As prsperity grew from the 9th century,
so enormous sums were lavished on the exterior and interior of the palace to make it a worthy expression of the power of the political state.
This extravagance, plus the excessive rebuilding because of fires and extensions, has created a sprawl of imposing buildings packed with treasures but little cohesion.
The Giant's staircase, named when Sansovino placed his two massive statues Mars and Neptune at the top, was built in 1498 by Antonio Rizzo as the setting for the Doge's coronation.
Beyond this is Scala d'Oro, the golden staircase, which leads to the Doge's private apartments on the second floor and the Council rooms on the floor above. It takes his name from
the rich white and gold stuccowork by Alessandro Vittoria and the frescoes by Battista Franco. The vestibule at the top of the staircase is where casanova, the venetian folk hero and roué spent the night in hiding after escaping from the "leads",
dreaded cells under the lead roof wich, as he described in his memoirs, were stifling in summer.
This third floor is the most important. The first room Salla delle quattro porte was the waiting room to the Senate. The frescoes on the ceiling were painted by Tintoretto
from 1578 to 1581 and on the walls are several of his works. Also displayed is Titian'sDoge Antonio Grimani before the Faith wich was completed by his nephew after his death in 1576.
In the next room Anticollegio, the outstanding figure is Rape of Europa, one of the finest paintings by Veronese. There
is also a mythological series by Tintoretto representing the seasons of the year of wich the two most interesting works are Bacchus and Ariane
and Mercury and the Graces. The doge met with the Council of Ten in the Collegio. The ceiling, considered the finest in the Palace, was decorated by a youthful Veronese
and displayed over the throne is his Victory of Lepanto.
The connecting room Sala del Senato with its display of Baroque art has, as the centrepiece of Cristoforo Sorte's ceiling, Tintoretto's remarkable Triumph of Venice
and on the end wall his Doge Loredan at Prayer.
The route continues with the Consiglio dei Dieci the meeting place for the Council; the Sale della Bussola with its "Lion's mouth" for the posting of secret denunciations;
the Armoury; then down the Scale dei Censori to Sala del Magggior Consiglio the Hall of the Grand Council, the most impressive meeting room in the world.
It's fifty-four metres long and built to hold the council's 1700 members. Above where the Doge and Senate presided is Tintoretto's grandiose Paradise covering the twenty-five metre width of the room.
The canvas took him the six years before his death at seventy-six to complete, with help of his soon Domenico.
The carved and gilded wood ceiling is breathtaking and made up of thirthy-five panels by the famous artists of the day : Tintoretto, Veronese, Francesco Bassano and Palma il Giovane. The outstanding work is
Apotheosis of venice by Veronese in the oval frame near to the throne.
Below the ceiling, around three of the walls, is a frieze of the first seventy-six doges with a space blanked out on the wall overlooking the Piazetta for Doge Marin Farlier executed for trahison in 1355.
This frieze is continued in the next room, Sala del Scrutino almost equal in size, ending with the last of the Doges, Lodovico Manin, the 120th.
Stairs lead down to through a series of once-secret passages to the macabre Bridge of Sighs wich owes its name to the sound made by prisoners as they were led across it to their executions.
