Public Monuments.—Venetian sculpture is for the most part ancillary to architecture ; for example, Antonio Rizzo's "Adam" and "Eve" (1464), which face the giants'-staircase in the ducal palace, are parts of the decorative scheme; Sansovino's splendid monument to Tomaso Rangone is an essential feature of the façade of San Giuliano. The most successful Venetian sculpture is to be found in the many noble sepulchral private monuments. The jealousy of the Venetian republic forbade the erection of monuments to her great men. The sole exception is the superb equestrian statue in honour of the General Bartolomeo Colleoni, standing on the Campo SS. Giovanni e Paolo. It is by the Flo rentine Verrocchio, and was cast by Alessandro Leopardi, who was responsible for the graceful pedestal. Leopardi was also the creator (1505) of the three handsome bronze sockets in front of St. Mark's which held the flagstaffs of the banners of Cyprus, Morea and Crete, when the republic ruled them.
By the side of the sea in the piazzetta, on to which the west facade of the ducal palace faces, stand two ancient columns of Egyptian granite, brought as trophies to Venice by Doge Dome nico Michieli in 1126. In II80 they were set up with their present fine capitals and bases. The grey column is surmounted by a fine bronze lion of Byzantine style, cast in Venice for Doge Ziani about 1178 and in 1329 a marble statue of St. Theodore, standing upon a crocodile, was placed on the other column.
Painting developed relatively late in Venice, as is shown by the dates of the activity of Giacomo Bellini (1424-147o) and his sons Gentile (1429-1507) and Giovanni (1459-1516) of the Vivarini family of Murano (1440-1505) and of Vittore Car paccio (1482–c. 1527). The greatest artists of the Venetian school are Titian (1477?-1576) and Tintoretto (1518-94) : but Palma Vecchio (c. 1480-1528), Bonifacio, Paris Bordone, and Paolo Veronese are also important. Of later masters we may name Tiepolo, Canale and Guardi (qq.v.).
The arsenal was founded about the year 1104 by the doge Ordelap Falier. In 1304, on the design of Andrea Pisano, new building sheds and the rope walk were erected. Pisano's building sheds, nine in a row, with peculiarly shaped roofs, were still standing intact—until recently, but have been modified. In 1325 the second addition, the arsenale nuovo, was made, and a third, the arsenale nuovissimo, in 1473 ; a fourth, the Riparto delle Galeazze, about 1539; and in 1564 the fifth enlarge ment, the Canal delle Galeazze e V asca, took place. The entire circuit of the arsenal, about two miles in extent, is protected by a lofty wall with turrets. The main door of the arsenal is the first example in Venice of the purely classical style. It is a noble portal, erected in 1460, from designs by Fra Giocondo, with the lion of St. Mark in the attic. The statuary, with S. Giustina on the sum mit of the tympanum, was added in 1571 and 1578. The whole design was modified in 1688 so as to represent a triumphal arch in honour of Morosini Peloponnesiaco, who brought from Athens to Venice the four lions in Pentelic marble which now stand before the gate. (On the largest of these lions is cut a runic in scription recording an attack on the Piraeus in the iith century by Norse warriors of the Varangian guard, under Harold Hardrada, afterwards—I047—king of Norway.) The arsenal suffered fre
quently and severely from fires, the worst being those of 1509 and 1569; yet such was the wealth of Venice that her fleet crushed the Turks at Lepanto in 1571.
The Lido, which lies about 2 m. S.E. of Venice and divides the lagoon from the sea, has become a fashionable bathing-place. The point of San Nicole del Lido is strongly fortified to protect the new entrance to the port. Inside the fortress lies the old Protestant burying-ground.
The library of San Marco contains upwards of 400,00o printed volumes and about 13,000 manuscripts. We may date the true foundation of the library to the donation of Cardinal Bessarion. The principal treasures of the collection, including splendid Byzantine book-covers, the priceless codices of Homer, the Grimani Breviary, an early Dante, etc., are exhibited under cases in the Sala Bessarione in the Zecca or mint where the library has been installed. Another library was left to the public by the munificence of Count Quirini-Stampalia, who bequeathed his collections and his house at Santa Maria Formosa to be held in trust for students. The state archives are housed in the Fran ciscan monastery at the Frari.
Under the republic commercial shipping used to enter Venice by the port of San Nicole del Lido and lie along the quay called the Riva degli Schiavoni, in the basin of San Marco, and up the broad Giudecca Canal. But the mouth of the Lido entrance gradually silted up and, when trade expanded, the Italian Government resolved to reopen it. Two moles were run out in a south-westerly direction ; the westerly is about 2 m., the easterly about 3 m. in length. The natural scour thus created has given a depth of 26 ft. of water through the sand-bank. The mean rise and fall of the tide is about 2 f t., but under certain conditions of wind the variation amounts to 5 ft. and over. Docks were con structed near the railway station, but in 1917 plans were made for a new port for Venice on the mainland, at Marghera, south of the railway line to Padua; in 1922 the canal of approach was opened by King Victor Emmanuel, and named in his honour, and in 1924 the construction of the main works was begun. The port, when finished, will cover twice the area of Venice itself, and will consist of parallel moles 3,00o ft. long with docks of 600 to Boo ft. between. Two moles will be built at first, with isolated jetties on the canal for oil ships. With the existing docks in Venice this will give the port a capacity of 10,000,00o to 12,000,000 tons a year. It is hoped that the industrial area, which is being built behind the docks, will create a considerable volume of trade. Behind the industrial area again a garden suburb to house 30,00o is being brought into existence by the municipality. Special customs facili ties have been granted for the encouragement of trade in the new port. In 1926 6,722 ships of a total tonnage of 5,785,424 entered and cleared the port, disembarking 1,676,750 tons of merchandise, and embarking 232,652, and dealing with 76,199 passengers.