Ca d'Oro

Question 1

Subject

Answer 1

Venetian residence of the Contarini family consisting of three storeys.

Question 2

Marble façade:

Answer 2

Originally covered in gold leaf, hence the building’s name: ‘house of gold’.

Question 3

Pianterreno: (ground floor)

Answer 3

Features an arched loggia which provides the principal entrance from the canal.

Question 4

Piano nobile and attic storey:

Answer 4

Articulated with bar tracery, pointed arches and balustrades.

Question 5

Bynzantine-inspired decoration:

Answer 5

Including quatrefoil tracery, demonstrates the Eastern influences on Venetian design.

Question 6

Relief ornamentation:

Answer 6

Including ogee designs and ropework decoration – characteristic of the Venetian Gothic style.

Question 7

Cornice:

Answer 7

Crowns the top of the building.

Question 8

Horizontal vs vertical emphasis:

Answer 8

Each level of the façade is increasingly ornate and intricate towards the top, creating a vertical emphasis which is counterbalanced by horizontality of the two balustrades, upper balconies and cornice.

Question 9

Contarini family wealth and status:

Answer 9

Demonstrated by the expensive marble columns and a mosaic floor as well as the building’s prime waterfront location. The internal courtyard provided a place for the family to entertain their guests, another symbol of their affluence as space was an expensive commodity in crowded Venice.

Question 10

Islamic influences:

Answer 10

In the upper balcony, pointed arches borrow from Islamic architecture in their distinct horseshoe shape.

Question 11

Byzantine influences:

Answer 11

A diamond pattern of coloured stone, a technique that was a hallmark of late Byzantine architecture.

Question 12

Gothic influences:

Answer 12

Pointed arches and quatrefoil tracery.

Question 13

Renewed interest in the Classical past:

Answer 13

Its horizontal emphasis and three-storey façade demonstrate the harmony and rhythmassociated with classical architecture – a characteristic of Renaissance architecture.

Question 14

Venetian architecture:

Answer 14

Quattrocento Venice was politically more stable than other Italian city states, and it was also naturally protected from invasion by its location in a lagoon on the Adriatic Sea. As a result, Venice’s architecture did not need to be as defensive as the architecture of neighbouring regions, such as the Palazzo Medici in Florence.

Question 15

Influence of the Doge’s Palace:

Answer 15

The best-known examples of the Venetian Gothic style are theDoge’s Palaceand theCa’ d’Oro. Both featureloggias, quatrefoiltracery, ogeearches, ropework reliefs, and a polychromed exterior. The powerful Contarini family attempt to assert their power and status within the Serenissima (Republic) by referencing a prominent example of Venetian civic architecture.

Question 16

Venetian patronage:

Answer 16

Venice was a very wealthy city with a strong merchant class that had the means and desire to build impressive palaces for themselves as a way to express their wealth and importance.

Question 17

Venice:

Answer 17

The palazzo’s incorporation of Byzantine, Islamic, and Gothic elements reflects Venice’s trading connections with the East and the fact that it had once belonged to the Byzantine Empire (the eastern part of the Roman Empire). Its proximity to northern Europe also meant that the Gothic style was more prevalent in Venice than more southern Italian states.

Question 18

Istrian marble:

Answer 18

The facade was constructed with expensive white Istrian marble. The columns and attic storey were constructed with red verona marble, and the pianterreno and piano nobile were built with veined marble.

Question 19

Polychrome facade:

Answer 19

Creates tonal variety and demonstrates an array of expensive stones sourced from outside Venice, revealing the wealth and power of the family.

Question 20

Gold and Lapis Lazuli:

Answer 20

Lapis lazuli, imported from Afghanistan, that originally adorned the building’s façade, demonstrating Venice’s prominent trading connections with the East.