0:00:06 > 0:00:11The terror of Attila the Hun had ravaged the hills of northern Italy.
0:00:14 > 0:00:19The refugees fled to a small group of islands in a marshy lagoon.
0:00:19 > 0:00:25This big wasteland would become the most beautiful city on earth -
0:00:25 > 0:00:27Venice.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31Its people were fierce in war and rich in trade.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36And then, one morning in April 1204,
0:00:36 > 0:00:38in pursuit of money and power,
0:00:38 > 0:00:44Venice led a vast army into one of the bloodiest battles in history -
0:00:44 > 0:00:47the sack of Constantinople.
0:00:49 > 0:00:54With victory came the power to dominate the Mediterranean
0:00:54 > 0:00:59and a new empire that would span East and West.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35Venice was now the centre of the world.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39It became rich beyond its wildest dreams
0:01:39 > 0:01:42and it spent its money on great new buildings,
0:01:42 > 0:01:45beautiful paintings and sculptures.
0:01:49 > 0:01:55This is the story of the greatest flowering of art in Venice's history.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59There seemed no end to what this city could achieve.
0:01:59 > 0:02:06But as the city's painters and architects became ever more daring and outrageous,
0:02:06 > 0:02:09Venice was to make many enemies,
0:02:09 > 0:02:13who would bring this spirit of great beauty and opulence
0:02:13 > 0:02:16to a crashing end.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24It all began with a mysterious arrival.
0:02:27 > 0:02:32In 1295, a man staggered into this courtyard.
0:02:32 > 0:02:37He wore torn, alien-looking clothes.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40It seemed he didn't belong in Venice.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45But he was coming back home.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50His name...
0:02:50 > 0:02:53was Marco Polo.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59And he had just returned after 24 years of travel
0:02:59 > 0:03:04through China and other strange and fantastic lands.
0:03:09 > 0:03:15With the bizarre clothes, the weird accent and the savage look,
0:03:15 > 0:03:19he had become a stranger to his own family.
0:03:38 > 0:03:43A great banquet was given to celebrate Marco Polo's return.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47At this feast, he was to reveal his discoveries,
0:03:47 > 0:03:51things that Europe had never dreamt of.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56Polo had returned with more than just jewels.
0:03:56 > 0:04:01He'd brought back knowledge of a new world that was to make Venice rich.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06He told of extraordinary spices from India,
0:04:06 > 0:04:09the finest quality of silk,
0:04:09 > 0:04:12gold and silver from Malabar
0:04:12 > 0:04:18and the astonishing riches of the Chinese emperor Kublai Khan,
0:04:18 > 0:04:20with his millions of ships,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23his millions of horses
0:04:23 > 0:04:26and millions of temples.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30Marco Polo became known as Marco Milione or simply Milione -
0:04:30 > 0:04:35Mr Millions - because the people of Venice didn't believe a word he said.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40To make fun of him,
0:04:40 > 0:04:43they even called this courtyard Il Milione.
0:04:45 > 0:04:50But these distant lands were truly as rich as he said
0:04:50 > 0:04:55and Venice would establish a unique network of trading routes to the East.
0:04:55 > 0:05:00The city would be the gateway between Europe and the Orient,
0:05:00 > 0:05:03bringing us huge power and riches.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09Venice was truly the centre of the world,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13and the place where the people of the East and West literally met
0:05:13 > 0:05:17was in the Rialto, Venice's trading centre.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24On a typical day,
0:05:24 > 0:05:29any time between the 11th and the 15th centuries,
0:05:29 > 0:05:35this place would have contained the richest mix of people to be found anywhere in the world.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39The Rialto market, with all the shops, stores, people -
0:05:39 > 0:05:44it felt like an eastern souk, almost a kasbah.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46And still it does.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52In this tiny area of Venice,
0:05:52 > 0:05:56Europe could sample the world's most exotic goods -
0:05:56 > 0:06:01strange fruits from Africa, perfumes from India,
0:06:01 > 0:06:04minerals and fabric dyes from Malaya
0:06:04 > 0:06:10and pepper, cloves and other spices from Arabia.
0:06:22 > 0:06:28More than a centre of trade, the Rialto was the banking centre of Venice.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32And Venice's banks were way ahead of their time.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45This bar is the site of the first Giro bank,
0:06:45 > 0:06:49the place where credit was born, where paper replaced gold,
0:06:49 > 0:06:53and the first ever bank loans were issued here.
0:06:56 > 0:07:02During the 12th and 13th centuries, this square was the financial centre of the world.
0:07:04 > 0:07:10While the rest of Europe languished in the feudal age of masters and serfs,
0:07:10 > 0:07:17Venetian bankers gave financial backing to a new class of merchant adventurers.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22It was to fuel a modern credit boom.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29The spirit of Marco Polo and the money of Banco Giro
0:07:29 > 0:07:32created men like my ancestor, Alvise da Mosto.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38Every great Venetian family had an explorer,
0:07:38 > 0:07:42and in my house we have a statue of ours.
0:07:42 > 0:07:47This is my great-great-great-grandfather, Alvise da Mosto.
0:07:47 > 0:07:52He was an explorer and at the age of 22,
0:07:52 > 0:07:56he discovered the Capo Verde Islands, off the coast of Africa,
0:07:56 > 0:07:58in the Atlantic Ocean.
0:07:58 > 0:08:04I'm 40, and with my little boat, I go around the lagoon.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08But this is the difference between me and him.
0:08:17 > 0:08:23Alvise da Mosto's incredible journey took him beyond the Christian world to pagan Africa.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26Trade would be the new religion.
0:08:26 > 0:08:32The explorer-merchants roamed from Jerusalem in the Holy Land to Muslim Egypt,
0:08:32 > 0:08:39from Beijing in China to Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium,
0:08:39 > 0:08:41the city we now call Istanbul.
0:08:41 > 0:08:48They travelled to make money, but they also brought back new ideas of art.
0:08:48 > 0:08:53This great building is the Fondaco dei Turchi.
0:08:53 > 0:08:58The word "fondaco" derives from the Arabic for trading post.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01Dating from the early 13th century,
0:09:01 > 0:09:08the building served as lodging for foreign traders and a warehouse for their goods.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12The tall arches were inspired by Byzantium.
0:09:12 > 0:09:17The layout, a central courtyard with lodgings above,
0:09:17 > 0:09:19was an idea borrowed from the East.
0:09:19 > 0:09:24Buildings like this would change the look of Venice for ever.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27But nothing is simple in Venice.
0:09:27 > 0:09:33Here, the Byzantine style of the East mixed with Western Gothic style of northern Europe
0:09:33 > 0:09:38and Venetian buildings became a strange, almost alien mixture.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43No city in the world looked like this.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48The elongated, round arch from the East
0:09:48 > 0:09:51merged with the Western Gothic arch,
0:09:51 > 0:09:54creating an elaborate new style,
0:09:54 > 0:09:57a unique architecture -
0:09:57 > 0:09:59Venetian Gothic.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07And it was this style that would stamp its identity
0:10:07 > 0:10:10on Venice's Grand Canal...
0:10:11 > 0:10:14..the city's greatest waterway.
0:10:16 > 0:10:21It stretches from the great basin of St Mark at one side of the city...
0:10:23 > 0:10:29..winding snake-like through the great trading district of the Rialto.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37This is the main artery of Venice.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42All canals lead into the Grand Canal.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53Throughout the 14th and 15th centuries,
0:10:53 > 0:10:58fabulous Venetian Gothic palaces rose up along the Grand Canal.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02It was here that Venice's great traders
0:11:02 > 0:11:06would show off their wealth and splendour.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14These palaces were all built for merchants
0:11:14 > 0:11:19and they would double as a place of work and a home. On the ground floor
0:11:19 > 0:11:23would be the warehouse space for merchandise
0:11:23 > 0:11:27and on the first floor would be the grand living quarters.
0:11:27 > 0:11:32But these palaces had new features which made them uniquely Venetian.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38Every palace had two very different entrances -
0:11:38 > 0:11:41one on the water and one on land.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45The land entrance was often small
0:11:45 > 0:11:48and lost down a dark back passage.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52By far the more important was the water entrance.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Doubling as both a ceremonial entrance
0:11:55 > 0:11:59and the easiest place to unload merchandise,
0:11:59 > 0:12:05the Venetian water entrances were lavish shows of wealth and power.
0:12:05 > 0:12:10The canal facade was most definitely the front of the house.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15It had to impress everyone, from private visitors to business rivals.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17Think about it.
0:12:17 > 0:12:22Every one of these palaces was the headquarters of a family business.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26The facades were a way of representing success.
0:12:26 > 0:12:31Quite simply, the more money you had, the grander your facade.
0:12:34 > 0:12:39But, as Venice was inclined to show off its wealth more and more,
0:12:39 > 0:12:43even the back entrances came in for some extravagant treatment.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01This is the Scala del Bovolo,
0:13:01 > 0:13:04a sight famous all over the world.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08Not because of the palace, but because of the staircase.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15It's a work of art in itself.
0:13:18 > 0:13:23Land was scarce in Venice and buildings were crowded together.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25So light was vital.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31The early windows were made like bottle ends,
0:13:31 > 0:13:35the round discs held in place by lead.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39Venice pioneered the production of window glass,
0:13:39 > 0:13:45when other cities only had canvas or rags to keep out the wind and rain.
0:13:50 > 0:13:55Glass allowed the palazzos to shimmer and shine
0:13:55 > 0:14:01in the glory of the Venetian light reflecting off the canals.
0:14:08 > 0:14:13One palace, more than any other, represents this great period for Venice -
0:14:13 > 0:14:16the Ca d'Oro.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20The name means "the house of gold".
0:14:20 > 0:14:23And when it was first built,
0:14:23 > 0:14:28the facade was covered with glistening gold-leaf paint.
0:14:32 > 0:14:37The Venetians had started building their houses out of mud and straw.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41But now they were building them out of gold.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44Look how far Venice had come.
0:14:46 > 0:14:53The Ca d'Oro was designed by the architect brothers Giovanni and Bartolomei Bon
0:14:53 > 0:14:58and built during the 1420s for the grand Contarini family,
0:14:58 > 0:15:02one of the most respected families in Venice.
0:15:02 > 0:15:07They too traded in spices, fabric and dyes.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11This would have been their warehouse space.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13But what a warehouse!
0:15:18 > 0:15:24In the internal courtyard is a well of red marble from Verona,
0:15:24 > 0:15:29decorated with the figures of Charity, Justice and Fortitude,
0:15:29 > 0:15:34and an intricately carved Moorish-style staircase
0:15:34 > 0:15:40that shows us how Eastern-looking Venetian architecture could be.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53It's hard to imagine now, but to a visitor of the 15th century,
0:15:53 > 0:15:59the front of this palace might have seemed as if it was built by aliens.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03It was the greatest example of Venetian Gothic architecture,
0:16:03 > 0:16:07a style that was unique in the world.
0:16:12 > 0:16:17The crenellation around the roof is yet another brilliant marriage
0:16:17 > 0:16:20of Eastern and Western elements.
0:16:21 > 0:16:27The marble columns were brought from quarries in Greece and Verona
0:16:27 > 0:16:34and the bas-relief panels were looted from buildings in the far-eastern reaches
0:16:34 > 0:16:36of the Venetian empire.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40Ingredients may have come from far and wide.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43But this brilliant confection
0:16:43 > 0:16:46could only be found on the Grand Canal in Venice.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54Through the rise and rise of the merchant class,
0:16:54 > 0:16:59trade prospered and money flowed into Venice.
0:16:59 > 0:17:04Money for fine architecture was followed by money spent on fine art.
0:17:04 > 0:17:09Artists, like Giovanni and Gentile Bellini and Vittore Carpaccio,
0:17:09 > 0:17:14emerged as much sought-after men in the life of the city.
0:17:14 > 0:17:19And the Venetian authorities recognised art
0:17:19 > 0:17:24as another trade to be supported by organised guilds.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31This painting by Carpaccio
0:17:31 > 0:17:36shows life on the Grand Canal in the 15th century.
0:17:36 > 0:17:41The crowds pouring across the old wooden Rialto Bridge.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44Merchants swagger along the canal side
0:17:44 > 0:17:48with all the confidence of princes.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51The Grand Canal is teeming with life. Even on the rooftops,
0:17:51 > 0:17:56people hang their washing out to dry among the chimney pots.
0:18:07 > 0:18:12The city's confidence was founded on its empire and its trade routes.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16But something terrible was about to hit Venice.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20Turkish armies laid siege to Constantinople.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24The capital of Byzantium.
0:18:24 > 0:18:30For 250 years, this city had been key to Venetian prosperity.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36On the 29th of May 1453,
0:18:36 > 0:18:40Sultan Mehmet II's terrifying army of Turks
0:18:40 > 0:18:45marched into Constantinople and took the city.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49Venice had lost its most important imperial outpost.
0:18:49 > 0:18:56Now, the Islamic Ottoman empire dominated the East.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00If Venice was to retain any trading influence in Constantinople,
0:19:00 > 0:19:05the Venetians would have to make friends with the Turks.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09So who did Venice send to Constantinople?
0:19:09 > 0:19:11Not a soldier, not a sailor,
0:19:11 > 0:19:14not even a politician,
0:19:14 > 0:19:16but an artist.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19By the end of the 15th century,
0:19:19 > 0:19:25Venice knew that art was its most powerful asset.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28They sent the painter Gentile Bellini
0:19:28 > 0:19:32to win over Sultan Mehmet II.
0:19:32 > 0:19:37Gentile had just finished decorating the Doge's Palace.
0:19:37 > 0:19:42He had barely travelled beyond the Venetian lagoon,
0:19:42 > 0:19:46but he took with him the secret of Venetian art
0:19:46 > 0:19:51and the promise of painting a great portrait
0:19:51 > 0:19:53of the sultan himself.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01With its realism and psychological insight,
0:20:01 > 0:20:05this painting was a revelation at the court of the sultan.
0:20:05 > 0:20:11The picture bridged the divide between the Christian and Islamic worlds.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15Unlike any other major European trading power,
0:20:15 > 0:20:20Venice was happy to do business with the non-Christian world.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24It was behaviour condemned by the Pope.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36HE KNOCKS
0:20:51 > 0:20:53As we say in Venice,
0:20:53 > 0:20:56"Veneziani prima, poi Christiani."
0:20:56 > 0:21:00We are Venetian first and Christian second.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02Art and trade before faith.
0:21:02 > 0:21:08But if Venice's secular attitude allowed trade to flourish,
0:21:08 > 0:21:14the city knew better than to trust the increasingly expansionist Turks.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18So Venice would smile at the East,
0:21:18 > 0:21:21but be ready for a fight at any moment.
0:21:22 > 0:21:27This is the Arsenale - a temple to military and trading power.
0:21:27 > 0:21:32Venice's shipbuilding and weapons factory.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35The engine that ran the Venetian empire.
0:21:35 > 0:21:40It occupied the whole easternmost boundary of the city.
0:21:40 > 0:21:46This place was so important that the whole of Venice kept time
0:21:46 > 0:21:50according to work hours at the Arsenale.
0:21:50 > 0:21:56At sunrise every morning, the bell in the Campanile would ring out across the city
0:21:56 > 0:22:01and thousands of Venetians would make their way to the Arsenale.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05The bell is still known as la Marangona, the carpenter,
0:22:05 > 0:22:10named after the workers who had half an hour to get to the factory.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Here, they worked every hour of daylight
0:22:13 > 0:22:17to ensure Venetian trade routes were never threatened.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23This place could produce 200 ships in a month.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26That's 50 ships in a week, seven per day.
0:22:26 > 0:22:31It was the first factory production line in the world.
0:22:41 > 0:22:46All of this in the second half of the 15th century,
0:22:46 > 0:22:52at a time when English carpenters took months just to build one ship.
0:22:54 > 0:23:00But something very strange, even wonderful, had happened at the Arsenale.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06Just to the left, on the southernmost water entrance,
0:23:06 > 0:23:09almost pushed to one side,
0:23:09 > 0:23:13is a truly revelatory moment in Venetian architecture.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17This is the land gate to the Arsenale,
0:23:17 > 0:23:19built in 1460.
0:23:19 > 0:23:24Its scale is modest, but its look is triumphant.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27It is the first classical structure in the city,
0:23:27 > 0:23:33its roots firmly in the ancient world of Greece and Rome.
0:23:36 > 0:23:41For now, this wonderful gateway would sit here alone...
0:23:43 > 0:23:46..out of time and out of place
0:23:46 > 0:23:48in this Gothic city.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55But on one fateful night...
0:23:55 > 0:23:57in 1514...
0:24:02 > 0:24:08..the opportunity to rebuild Venice was presented in the most terrifying way.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14On the 10th of January 1514,
0:24:14 > 0:24:16Venice burned.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21But how could this be?
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Fighting fires in Venice should be easy.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27There is water everywhere.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31Alas, Venice was in the grip of winter.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35The canals were frozen solid.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40The city burned for 24 hours.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45The whole of the Rialto, Venice's commercial centre, was destroyed.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51This was the great fire of Venice, a tragedy.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54But also a great opportunity.
0:24:54 > 0:25:00They would have to rebuild, and there was a choice - Gothic or classical.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09And the choice was classical.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13Out of the tragedy would come triumphalism
0:25:13 > 0:25:17and one of its most famous monuments, the Rialto Bridge.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22The old wooden bridge had to be replaced.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26Now, this important thoroughfare,
0:25:26 > 0:25:32linking the commercial heart of the Rialto to the political heart of San Marco
0:25:32 > 0:25:36would be a monument to permanence and power.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49An architectural competition was held,
0:25:49 > 0:25:53attracting the best Italian architects.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55Even Michelangelo entered.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01But Venice, being Venice, would choose one of its own
0:26:01 > 0:26:04to build the emblem of the new age.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07Michelangelo's design was thrown out
0:26:07 > 0:26:11and the job was given to a little-regarded architect
0:26:11 > 0:26:16who'd done some repair work for the Doge -
0:26:16 > 0:26:18Antonio da Ponte.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22Just like everything else in Venice, the design was fuelled by trade.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25With the shops that lined it,
0:26:25 > 0:26:29the bridge became an extension of the Rialto market itself.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33The winning design had one, giant, single span
0:26:33 > 0:26:36of over 90 feet across the canal.
0:26:36 > 0:26:41Above it, a classical arcade of finest white marble from Istria,
0:26:41 > 0:26:46meeting at the middle in a great arch.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51The enormous weight of the bridge
0:26:51 > 0:26:55is supported by more than 12,000 wooden stakes,
0:26:55 > 0:26:59sunk into the shifting ground on either side.
0:27:03 > 0:27:08From afar, the Rialto Bridge appears so gentle,
0:27:08 > 0:27:10so light.
0:27:11 > 0:27:17But the nearer you go, you feel the power of the stones.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21When they built it, they had to strengthen both sides for 100 metres.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25It's incredible.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29After 500 years, it's still like the first day. It's perfect.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38It's strange, but, er...
0:27:38 > 0:27:43it's always an emotion to pass under.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45Like it was the first time.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51Oh-oh!
0:27:53 > 0:27:57And after 500 years, it's still perfect.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00The same stones.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03The angels on the sides.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09Because the bridge is something against nature.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13And you have to put yourself in the angels' hands.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18For da Ponte, it was over.
0:28:18 > 0:28:23The Rialto Bridge, his one monument to posterity.
0:28:23 > 0:28:29But already a battle had begun for the architectural soul of Venice.
0:28:32 > 0:28:38Just as Venice had made the Gothic its own, so it would reinterpret classicism.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41It would be a battle of architects,
0:28:41 > 0:28:44but whose classicism will win?
0:28:44 > 0:28:48This is Jacopo Sansovino,
0:28:48 > 0:28:52a charismatic man who made his buildings rich and ornate.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55This is Andrea Palladio.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57He was clever, but he knew it.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00His designs were monumental.
0:29:01 > 0:29:07The story of their rivalry would take Venice to new heights of beauty,
0:29:07 > 0:29:12but it would come at a difficult time for the republic.
0:29:12 > 0:29:14Let me explain.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17The Republic of Venice was losing power.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21It needed to feel solid, lusting, impenetrable,
0:29:21 > 0:29:27so Sansovino and Palladio were trying to rebuild it as a great ancient city.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31And classical architecture gave the feeling
0:29:31 > 0:29:35of older insecurity to Venice.
0:29:37 > 0:29:38Ciao!
0:29:48 > 0:29:53Andrea Palladio was a brilliant scholar of ancient architecture.
0:29:56 > 0:30:02But his designs were too bold for the conservative Venetians.
0:30:11 > 0:30:15Palladio was frequently rejected in favour of Jacopo Sansovino,
0:30:15 > 0:30:21an outgoing, healthy-living man, who was fond of cucumbers.
0:30:21 > 0:30:28With his charms, Sansovino had quickly found favour with the Venetian Establishment.
0:30:28 > 0:30:33Sansovino was successful, popular and well connected.
0:30:33 > 0:30:39By 1529, he was employed as the superintendent of works
0:30:39 > 0:30:42for St Mark's Square and the Doge's Palace...
0:30:45 > 0:30:48..the chief architect of Venice.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51His buildings were certainly bold.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55But their elaborate facades seemed to the authorities
0:30:55 > 0:30:59to complement the older Venetian Gothic.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06It looked as though Palladio's cause was hopeless,
0:31:06 > 0:31:12but fate - or incompetence - would intervene.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15While Palladio struggled to get work in Venice,
0:31:15 > 0:31:20Sansovino started a building that would dominate his life.
0:31:20 > 0:31:25It would make him imprisoned and bankrupt, but, at the end, it was a triumph.
0:31:25 > 0:31:28It was the Library of St Mark.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41This is classicism following the rules of Ancient Rome,
0:31:41 > 0:31:44with its fine Doric arcade below
0:31:44 > 0:31:46and ionic upper story.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53But it is classicism with a Venetian flourish,
0:31:53 > 0:32:00hailed in the city as the richest, most ornate building since antiquity.
0:32:00 > 0:32:05It's as though Sansovino was playing to his audience.
0:32:05 > 0:32:10Confident of Venice's love of ornate decoration,
0:32:10 > 0:32:18he covered the building with fine detail, putting the frieze and graceful figures on the balustrade.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27But Sansovino had got carried away.
0:32:29 > 0:32:33On the 18th of December 1545, disaster struck.
0:32:33 > 0:32:38The ground-floor vault over the main hall collapsed,
0:32:38 > 0:32:41bringing down the floor above it.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47Sansovino was thrown into jail.
0:32:57 > 0:32:59Sansovino had fallen from grace -
0:32:59 > 0:33:03from superstar architect to common criminal.
0:33:03 > 0:33:08He had blamed the collapse of the building on frost
0:33:08 > 0:33:10and the gunfire from a nearby ship,
0:33:10 > 0:33:16but the authorities held him personally responsible.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20Sansovino was made to pay for the rebuilding himself.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23It took him 25 years.
0:33:35 > 0:33:41At last, the time had come for the radical vision of Andrea Palladio.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00This is the church of San Francesco della Vigna.
0:34:00 > 0:34:04The interior was designed by Sansovino,
0:34:04 > 0:34:08but the exterior was given to Andrea Palladio,
0:34:08 > 0:34:12the new star of Venetian architecture.
0:34:12 > 0:34:18Quite simply, Palladio has taken all Sansovino has done,
0:34:18 > 0:34:22and he made it bigger and bolder.
0:34:29 > 0:34:31This building, more than any other,
0:34:31 > 0:34:36signalled the fall of Sansovino and the rise of Palladio.
0:34:39 > 0:34:43Palladio brought something entirely new to Venice.
0:34:46 > 0:34:51He took the classicism of Rome and made it even greater.
0:34:51 > 0:34:57His buildings felt as though they would last forever,
0:34:57 > 0:34:59and whatever their size,
0:34:59 > 0:35:02their structures seemed enormous.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12But perhaps Palladio's greatest work
0:35:12 > 0:35:17is the monastery and church of San Giorgio Maggiore.
0:35:23 > 0:35:25When this was built,
0:35:25 > 0:35:29it shocked and astonished the Venetians.
0:35:29 > 0:35:36The huge columns, the triangular porticos were like nothing they had ever seen,
0:35:36 > 0:35:39and even if they didn't like it,
0:35:39 > 0:35:44it would have turned their heads, and screamed, "Look at me!"
0:35:58 > 0:36:04Inside, Palladio even incorporates his love of circular, ancient temples
0:36:04 > 0:36:09by planning the church's shape round a huge dome,
0:36:09 > 0:36:13placed exactly at the centre of the building.
0:36:40 > 0:36:44With this and other churches in Venice,
0:36:44 > 0:36:50Palladio was at last hailed as the architectural genius of the age.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03Palladio's great triumphs
0:37:03 > 0:37:07allowed Venetians to take refuge in the look of their city,
0:37:07 > 0:37:09but they could not master reality.
0:37:09 > 0:37:13The foundations of Venice's success were crumbling away.
0:37:13 > 0:37:19In 1497, the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama
0:37:19 > 0:37:23had rounded the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26It would change the trading map of the world.
0:37:26 > 0:37:32It created a new trade route by ship to the East -
0:37:32 > 0:37:35to India, China and Central Asia.
0:37:35 > 0:37:37A faster and a cheaper route.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40A route that bypassed Venice.
0:37:42 > 0:37:46Venice had been the gateway to the East,
0:37:46 > 0:37:49but the trade routes were largely across land.
0:37:49 > 0:37:53Often, the terrain was dangerous and difficult,
0:37:53 > 0:37:57and a camel train could only carry a fraction of the goods
0:37:57 > 0:37:59that could go by ship.
0:37:59 > 0:38:04The news of Vasco da Gama's discovery travelled fast.
0:38:06 > 0:38:12There was now little point in European traders using Venice as a stopoff,
0:38:12 > 0:38:16or even an intermediary trading post.
0:38:19 > 0:38:21When the news hit the Rialto,
0:38:21 > 0:38:24banks closed overnight.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27This was a total nightmare.
0:38:27 > 0:38:31Almost overnight, Venice was penniless.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33Facing ruin.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36They really had to do something to survive,
0:38:36 > 0:38:41but what they did shocked the rest of the Christian world.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47The Jews were reviled by the Catholic Church,
0:38:47 > 0:38:52but at a time when much of Europe was expelling them from its cities,
0:38:52 > 0:38:57Venice saw the Jews as great traders and moneymakers.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00Like the Venetians themselves,
0:39:00 > 0:39:04their trading contacts spread far and wide.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08In 1516, Venice set up a Jewish quarter in the city.
0:39:08 > 0:39:13Before long, Jews arrived from all over Europe.
0:39:13 > 0:39:18They brought money, expertise and trading contacts.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20This is where they had to live -
0:39:20 > 0:39:24an island at the heart of Venice.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27On this island there was an old forge,
0:39:27 > 0:39:31and the Venetian word for the forge was "getto".
0:39:31 > 0:39:35This was the first Jewish ghetto in the world.
0:39:35 > 0:39:42It gave its name to the concept of captivity and cruelty that existed now.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45And the marks of the gates are still here.
0:39:45 > 0:39:47Look.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53The Jews were heavily taxed,
0:39:53 > 0:39:57forced to wear yellow hats as a mark of distinction,
0:39:57 > 0:40:00and the gates were locked at nightfall.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03The guards on the gates were Christians,
0:40:03 > 0:40:06paid for by the Jews.
0:40:06 > 0:40:08Yet, despite their treatment,
0:40:08 > 0:40:12Venice's Jewish population flourished,
0:40:12 > 0:40:17and life was better in Venice than just about anywhere else in Europe.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20Venetian Jews were moneylenders,
0:40:20 > 0:40:25pawnbrokers, merchants, doctors, and dealers in second-hand goods.
0:40:42 > 0:40:48The ghetto is the place you still come in Venice for second-hand goods.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12Arrivederci!
0:41:14 > 0:41:16As the Jewish community expanded,
0:41:16 > 0:41:19the ghetto grew...upwards.
0:41:19 > 0:41:24These houses are higher than most Venetian houses,
0:41:24 > 0:41:28as more floors were added to accommodate more people.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31The windows are so close together
0:41:31 > 0:41:34because the ceilings are so low.
0:41:35 > 0:41:42Many of the buildings were linked internally by passages and staircases,
0:41:42 > 0:41:46and contain some of Venice's great hidden treasures.
0:41:46 > 0:41:51This is one of four synagogues inside the houses of the ghetto.
0:41:51 > 0:41:56It is like no other synagogue in the world.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01Jewish architects were forbidden in Venice,
0:42:01 > 0:42:05so this synagogue was built by a Venetian.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08And you can tell.
0:42:08 > 0:42:12It is typical of the Venetian love of show and wealth,
0:42:12 > 0:42:16and it feels...more like a theatre
0:42:16 > 0:42:19than a place of worship.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25After Vasco da Gama's dramatic discovery,
0:42:25 > 0:42:32Venice's deal with the Jews brought the city back from the brink of disaster,
0:42:32 > 0:42:38but once again, it rocked Venice's relations with the Catholic Church.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41As Venice turned its back on the Church,
0:42:41 > 0:42:43so did its artists.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47Once saucy young painter took Venetian painting
0:42:47 > 0:42:50to a new level of beauty,
0:42:50 > 0:42:53sexuality and ungodly eroticism.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59His name was Tiziano Vecellio.
0:42:59 > 0:43:05In his lifetime, he was to become Venice's most famous artist,
0:43:05 > 0:43:07but his fate
0:43:07 > 0:43:11would be horribly linked to that of the city.
0:43:11 > 0:43:14We know him by the name Titian.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20This is where Titian lived.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28His studio was at the end of the garden.
0:43:28 > 0:43:32As his fame grew, he entertained scholars,
0:43:32 > 0:43:36artists and many of the most beautiful women in Venice.
0:43:39 > 0:43:43Titian set a new style for the artist -
0:43:43 > 0:43:47no longer subservient to religion and the Church.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50His friends were free-thinking painters,
0:43:50 > 0:43:53poets and philosophers.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57People like Veronese, the poet Aretino
0:43:57 > 0:44:00and the musician, Irene da Spilimbergo.
0:44:02 > 0:44:08With Titian's circle, the idea of the artist as a romantic figure was born.
0:44:09 > 0:44:15Someone who enjoyed life as an individual, free of the dictates of a rich patron.
0:44:19 > 0:44:22Titian was a Venetian,
0:44:22 > 0:44:26and like all of us Venetians, trade was in his blood.
0:44:26 > 0:44:31He started to see the financial possibilities of his paintings.
0:44:34 > 0:44:40Painterly mythologies, allegories and portraits flowed from his studio,
0:44:40 > 0:44:42all in his distinctive style.
0:44:44 > 0:44:50He had taken the realistic brush stroke of the Florentine Renaissance artists
0:44:50 > 0:44:55and given it a softer, more expressive edge.
0:44:58 > 0:45:01Royals and noblemen from all over the world
0:45:01 > 0:45:06sent agents to Venice to buy Titian's paintings.
0:45:06 > 0:45:09Kings and princes vied with each other
0:45:09 > 0:45:12to be painted by the great man,
0:45:12 > 0:45:15and Titian got rich on the proceeds.
0:45:17 > 0:45:21Now art was a commodity to be traded in,
0:45:21 > 0:45:24to get rich on.
0:45:24 > 0:45:28It was fast becoming Venice's most important export.
0:45:33 > 0:45:37And among Titian's hundreds of sitters
0:45:37 > 0:45:40were the beautiful women of Venice.
0:45:40 > 0:45:45It was in the representations of these women as Venus
0:45:45 > 0:45:48that Titian was to take art and Venice
0:45:48 > 0:45:51to a deeply immoral place
0:45:51 > 0:45:54it had never been before.
0:45:54 > 0:46:00Like his portraits, his nudes celebrate life in a new, secular way.
0:46:03 > 0:46:05His bodies are real.
0:46:05 > 0:46:07They have a feeling of real flesh,
0:46:07 > 0:46:09of carnale.
0:46:11 > 0:46:16One painting more than any shows the spirit of the age.
0:46:16 > 0:46:21Titian had been commissioned by the Duke of Urbino's son
0:46:21 > 0:46:23to paint an image of Venus.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27This was the result of the commission -
0:46:27 > 0:46:29the Venus Of Urbino.
0:46:29 > 0:46:35The nude had appeared in art for many centuries before,
0:46:35 > 0:46:37and the nudes of the Renaissance
0:46:37 > 0:46:39had become erotic icons,
0:46:39 > 0:46:44but there was something in the figures that was chaste.
0:46:44 > 0:46:48They closed their eyes or looked away from the viewer,
0:46:48 > 0:46:52but the Venus Of Urbino was different.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55She looked straight at the viewer.
0:46:55 > 0:46:59In an earlier painting by Titian's teacher, Giorgione,
0:46:59 > 0:47:02The Goddess Of Love touches herself,
0:47:02 > 0:47:05but her eyes are closed.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08She's in her own world.
0:47:13 > 0:47:17As her hand creeps between her legs, acknowledging her sex,
0:47:17 > 0:47:21Titian makes Venus look straight at us.
0:47:21 > 0:47:27That is what made this the most shocking and astonishing picture of its time.
0:47:27 > 0:47:33No other nude had ever stared out at the viewer.
0:47:33 > 0:47:35CHURCH BELL TOLLS
0:47:37 > 0:47:42Venice's relationship with the Catholic Church
0:47:42 > 0:47:45had already been taken to the limit,
0:47:45 > 0:47:50but now Titian and a new group of artists went too far with their unchristian art.
0:47:50 > 0:47:56The Church was already unhappy about Titian's seductive painting,
0:47:56 > 0:47:59The Assumption Of The Virgin, in the Frari church.
0:48:02 > 0:48:07But the paintings of Titian's friend Paolo Veronese
0:48:07 > 0:48:09scandalised the authorities.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12This is the church of St Sebastian,
0:48:12 > 0:48:16almost entirely decorated by Veronese.
0:48:16 > 0:48:20His versions of traditional Christian scenes were scandalously modern.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23Veronese makes no effort
0:48:23 > 0:48:26to depict religious scenes
0:48:26 > 0:48:28in their traditional surroundings.
0:48:28 > 0:48:35He moved historical figures from one scene to another, with little respect for religious history.
0:48:35 > 0:48:39He introduces humorous and irreverent details.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44In this painting, The Feast At Cana,
0:48:44 > 0:48:46he even had the audacity
0:48:46 > 0:48:51to portray Venetian painters as the musicians entertaining Christ.
0:48:51 > 0:48:57The bearded bass viola player on the right, wearing red, is Titian.
0:48:57 > 0:49:03The musician in white, to the left, is Veronese himself.
0:49:03 > 0:49:07Veronese was brilliant, and the Church wanted brilliant paintings,
0:49:07 > 0:49:12but he was teasing them with his irreverent work,
0:49:12 > 0:49:17and when he was commissioned to paint The Last Supper in 1573,
0:49:17 > 0:49:22he pushed the tolerance of the Catholic Church one step too far.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30Veronese's painting of The Last Supper
0:49:30 > 0:49:33was considered deeply blasphemous,
0:49:33 > 0:49:40and he incurred the wrath of the Vatican secret police - the Inquisition.
0:49:40 > 0:49:45The Church condemned the painting for showing buffoons,
0:49:45 > 0:49:48drunkards, dwarves
0:49:48 > 0:49:50and similar vulgarities.
0:49:52 > 0:49:57Veronese was forced to change the name and subject of the picture
0:49:57 > 0:50:01to The Feast At The House Of Levi.
0:50:06 > 0:50:11But the Venetian artists wouldn't stop breaking Catholic laws.
0:50:11 > 0:50:15The poet Aretino defied the Pope
0:50:15 > 0:50:19by publishing a set of pornographic prints
0:50:19 > 0:50:21already banned by the Vatican.
0:50:23 > 0:50:27Titian's friend Aretino wrote a sonnet
0:50:27 > 0:50:30to accompany each image.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12These artists were sacrilegious,
0:51:12 > 0:51:17but they saw their art as more important than anything else.
0:51:17 > 0:51:21Ultimately, Venice would pay the price.
0:51:22 > 0:51:27During this golden age, Venice committed ungodly acts.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31As the city's population reached an all-time high,
0:51:31 > 0:51:34Titian and his friends might have gone too far.
0:51:38 > 0:51:42And on the evening of the 25th of June of 1575,
0:51:42 > 0:51:47it seemed that the vengeance of the most biblical kind
0:51:47 > 0:51:50was delivered upon the city...
0:51:52 > 0:51:54..and this most famous artist.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00Titian and Venice were struck by the plague.
0:52:00 > 0:52:06The disease spread like wildfire through the city
0:52:06 > 0:52:10and, for the Venetians, it seemed like a punishment from God,
0:52:10 > 0:52:15or worse - a punishment from God, ordered by the Pope.
0:52:16 > 0:52:21The symptoms were severe chills, vomiting up blood,
0:52:21 > 0:52:27and huge boils that would form a black crust when they burst.
0:52:27 > 0:52:32If you were lucky, you died within the day.
0:52:33 > 0:52:39If you were unlucky, you might live on in agony for a week.
0:52:43 > 0:52:49Venetian plague doctors patrolled the alleys and canals
0:52:49 > 0:52:54with capes and snout-nosed masks, full of pepper for protection.
0:52:58 > 0:53:03The plague has had a massive impact on the history of Venice.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06This is a traveller's city,
0:53:06 > 0:53:10and disease has travelled to and from it many times.
0:53:10 > 0:53:15But it was from the East that it first came.
0:53:15 > 0:53:18The route that brought Venice its riches
0:53:18 > 0:53:22would also be the route that brought so much death.
0:53:36 > 0:53:40Victims were dying by the hundreds every day.
0:53:40 > 0:53:46Criminals were freed from the city's prisons
0:53:46 > 0:53:50to deal with the corpses and ferry the ill.
0:53:57 > 0:54:02And with the city overflowing with the dead,
0:54:02 > 0:54:05there was only one place to take them -
0:54:05 > 0:54:07the lagoon.
0:54:13 > 0:54:15All around would be death -
0:54:15 > 0:54:20galleys full of dying people, guarded by warships
0:54:20 > 0:54:23to make sure none escaped.
0:54:26 > 0:54:31Those who did try to escape will be hanged over the water.
0:54:32 > 0:54:35This was the victims' destination -
0:54:35 > 0:54:40the old plague hospital of Lazzaretto Vecchio.
0:54:44 > 0:54:49The island is now home to no-one but a pack of stray dogs,
0:54:49 > 0:54:52wild, like the souls of the dead.
0:55:03 > 0:55:10Someone unfortunate enough to experience this hell wrote about what he saw.
0:55:11 > 0:55:14The stench was unbearable,
0:55:14 > 0:55:18the air filled with the groans and pained sighs of the dying,
0:55:18 > 0:55:24the smoke rising from the burned bodies of the dead...
0:55:25 > 0:55:29The sick were placed three or four to a bed.
0:55:31 > 0:55:37In agony, unable to speak from the pain they were suffering, they were thrown onto carts
0:55:37 > 0:55:39piled up with corpses.
0:55:42 > 0:55:45For two years they were brought here,
0:55:45 > 0:55:49and they died in their thousands.
0:55:49 > 0:55:52Their tens of thousands.
0:55:54 > 0:55:57Most of the bodies were burned here.
0:55:58 > 0:56:02Only the dead of the noble families were taken away,
0:56:02 > 0:56:08and even they didn't get any marked graves.
0:56:11 > 0:56:15But in the deeper reaches of the lagoon
0:56:15 > 0:56:20lies Venice's true island of the dead.
0:56:26 > 0:56:30The plague dead of Venice's noble families
0:56:30 > 0:56:33were taken to the island of Santaliano.
0:56:33 > 0:56:36Here, they were not burned,
0:56:36 > 0:56:39but buried in shallow mass graves,
0:56:39 > 0:56:42where they lie to this day.
0:56:50 > 0:56:54The only victim to get a marked grave was Titian himself.
0:56:58 > 0:57:03On this island lie the remains of all the other nobles who died.
0:57:09 > 0:57:13Fragments of human bones everywhere.
0:57:15 > 0:57:19We will never know who these people were.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24Maybe friends of our ancestors...
0:57:30 > 0:57:34A child's that's lost the chance of life...
0:57:39 > 0:57:43Maybe death was the end of sufferance.
0:57:43 > 0:57:45Who knows.
0:58:01 > 0:58:06At the height of the plague, 51,000 had died -
0:58:06 > 0:58:10almost a third of the population of Venice.
0:58:16 > 0:58:19From her place at the centre of the world,
0:58:19 > 0:58:22Venice had fallen.
0:58:22 > 0:58:24Now she was a city to avoid.
0:58:26 > 0:58:31It seemed like it was the end for Venice,
0:58:31 > 0:58:34but the city would make a comeback.
0:58:34 > 0:58:37A comeback of the most surprising kind.
0:59:07 > 0:59:13Subtitles by Roger Young and Susan Mason, BBC Broadcast 2004
0:59:13 > 0:59:16E-mail us at subtitling@bbc.co.uk