ARCHITECT, Italian
(active 15th century in Venice)

Palazzo Soranzo: Façade

15th century
Photo
Campo San Polo, Venice

There are two Soranzo palaces on the Campo San Polo, known as the "Casa Vecchia" (on the left) and "Casa Nuova" (on the right), the two façades are today unified by a single coat of plaster. The palaces would appear to break the Venetian rule which establishes that the main façade of the building faces onto the canal: in fact the palaces did face onto the Sant'Antonio canal but this was covered over in 1761.

On the two façades elements of a stylistic transition from 14th-century forms to late-Gothic models can be seen. The oldest part of the building dates from the mid-1300s and, indeed, the multi-mullioned first-floor windows are certainly reminiscent of typical 14th-century models, even though the two portals surmounted by Romanesque sculptures would appear to date back to an even earlier time. The second building, which features a stunning window with eight supporting arches, is clearly 15th-century in style and was once decorated with much-admired frescos by Giorgione.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.