page_title: Loggetta del Sansovino
section_title: Historical background
hierarchical_section_title: Loggetta del Sansovino / Historical background
context_page_description: The Loggetta is a small, richly decorated building at the base of the bell tower in Saint Mark's Square, Venice, Italy. Built by Jacopo Sansovino between 1538 and 1546, it served at various times as a gathering place for nobles and for meetings of the procurators of Saint Mark, the Venetian officials responsible principally for the administration of the treasury of Saint Mark's Basilica and for the public buildings around Saint Mark's Square.
  Because of its location directly in front of the Porta della Carta, the most important entry to the Doge's Palace, the loggetta was also used from 1569 onward as a sentry post to provide security for the assembled nobles during the meetings of the Great Council: three procurators were to be present, assisted by an armed squadron of Arsenalotti, the workers from the government shipyards, in order to counter any popular assault and respond to any fire. Beginning in 1734, it was additionally the site for the extraction of winning tickets in the public lottery.
context_section_description: Covered exterior galleries, referred to as loggias and intended as public gathering places, were normally built in Venice against church façades, such as the surviving examples of San Giacomo di Rialto and San Nicolò dei Mendicoli. A similar structure was also attached to the building of the Camerlenghi at Rialto as a meeting place for nobles to discuss business affairs in the commercial centre of the city. Furnished with maps and paintings, this structure, visible in Vittore Carpaccio's Miracle of the Relic of the Cross at the Ponte di Rialto (c. 1496) and in Jacopo de' Barbari's panoramic view of Venice (1500), was not rebuilt after the fire that devastated the Rialto market in 1514.
  From the end of the thirteenth century until the second half of the seventeenth century, a loggia also existed in Saint Mark's Square as a gathering place for nobles whenever they came to the square on government business. Although it was attached to the Church of San Basso, it was under the jurisdiction of the procurators of Saint Mark de supra who were responsible specifically for the public buildings around the square.
  In the fifteenth century, the procurators erected a second loggia, attached to the bell tower. Visible in La Piazzetta di San Marco (c. 1487), attributed to Lazzaro Bastiani, it was a lean-to wooden structure, partially enclosed, that consisted in a triple arcade supported on four stone columns. Over time, it was repeatedly damaged by falling masonry from the bell tower as a result of storm and earthquake but was repaired after each incident. However, when lightning struck the bell tower on 11 August 1537 and the loggia underneath was once again damaged, it was decided to completely rebuild the structure. The commission was given to the sculptor and architect Jacopo Sansovino, the proto (consultant architect and buildings manager) of the procurators of Saint Mark de supra.
caption: Lazzaro Bastiani (attributed), La Piazzetta di San Marco (c. 1487), Venice, Museo Correr
exif: {}