Vittoriano
From the moment of its foundation, St. Mark's Palace - later called 'Palazzo Venezia' - was not only the largest architectural factory in 15th-century Rome, but also the privileged venue for numerous events. It hosted, in fact, gatherings of cardinals and diplomats, Carnival celebrations, symposia of humanists and assemblies of the basilican chapter. The building, an unprecedented work in the context of the Urbe in terms of its vastness and architectural refinement, also housed one of the richest collections of antiquities then existing. Pietro and Marco Barbo were the promoters of the urban and cultural centrality of the architectural complex, the one during the years of his pontificate (1464-1471), the other during the long period in which he was assignee of the cardinal's title of the basilica of St. Mark (1467-1491), incorporated in those very years into the perimeter of the building. Even the most recent studies outline a family strategy declined according to the peculiarities of the two personages, which was embedded within a dense network of relations with exponents of different nationes, men of letters and artists. The Barbo family were thus proponents of two different forms of patronage that have long represented a legacy to contend with, well beyond the chronological span of the early modern age.
Introducing
Edith Gabrielli
Director of VIVE - Vittoriano and Palazzo Venezia
Discuss
Susanne Kubersky
Senior Scholar, Bibliotheca Hertziana
Fernando Marías
Professor Emeritus of Art History, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Member of the Real Academia de la Historia
Speaking
Sara Bova
Post-Doc Researcher, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna
Author of the volume Marco Barbo (1420-1491): a Venetian patron in the shadow of the popes
