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The pursuit of a new austerity accompanied concrete projects and intellectual
reflections. A close friend of Daniele Zen, the author of Vitruvio,
Daniele Barbaro, recorded in 1566 that 'there is no greatness in the profusion
of marbles, or magnificence and pride in the materials used by the ancients in
their buildings, because the excellence of the Venetians lies in other
things'1. During the year 1579 the
Provveditore of the Arsenale ,
Marc'Antonio Barbaro, managed to halt the first project for the new
'Corderie' ('rope-factory') which had already been approved by the
Collegio ,
arguing that it had been designed 'more for appearance than for convenience or
service'2. Finally, it seems that while it was considered essential to affix
decorations to the guns of the ships, the sterns of the
galleys - as decreed the
Senate in 1549 - were only allowed to be
decorated for the paltry sum of thirty ducats for the
General Sea Captain ,
twenty for the
Provveditori of the Fleet ,
and fifteen ducats for the Commander of the sea ('capi da mar').
Footnotes:
1 'non vi sia grandezza per la copia di marmi et per la magnificenza et
superbia della materia che usavano gli antichi negli edifici loro,
perché questa eccellenza hanno (i viniziani) in altre fabbriche loro'
2 'più tosto all'apparentia che al commodo e al servitio'
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