In these weeks of our presidential debates it seems somehow appropriate to share the reception and honoring of the last duke of Milan in Venice in 1530. Though completely different in specifics, the visit of a leader from such an important Italian city, does parallel the preparations and ostentation displayed in cities along the routes of presidential candidates during campaign.
Editor's note: "One of the most elaborate secular ceremonies was the one honoring a visit by the Duke of Milan in 1530 .... Among the chief concerns of Venetian ceremony was the proper ranking of the various attending dignitaries, precedence was often an issue among ambassadors. The positioning of Doge Andrea Gritti vis-a-vis his visitors was another matter, and a certain flexibility was sometimes necessary." p. 76
Sanudo Diaries Oct 10, 1530: (54:35-36) "From Chioza there were letters from the governor and ser Gabriel Venier, the ambassador, which were written yesterday evening. ... They related how the duke, upon his arrival in Chioza, was greeted by the governor.... They came forth to meet him in small boats; once they had met on the other side of Chioza, they boarded his barge, where ser Gasparo Bembo, university laureate, recited a very beautiful Latin oration. His excellency thanked him very much... Then they ... disembarked..., and took up their lodging in the palace.... Many of the members of the compagnia the Royals came to the Collegio and requested the use of the hall of the Great Council so that they could give a little festa and a comedy for the duke; in addition, they wanted to hold a banquet. His Serenity and the Collegio said that they were willing to let them use the hall but that they did not wish there to be any banquet, since such a thing had never been done before. Thus [the compagnia members] began to decorate it with tapestries for the festa that will be held on the 18th, Tuesday. ... I note that the Signoria wished to invite the ambassadors to go to meet the Duke of Milan, [and the ambassadors of ] the emperor, France, and the king of England sent word yesterday to his Serenity that they would come but that they did not want to be placed below the Duke of Milan. Thus it was decided to invite neither them nor the papal legate. Item: it was decided by the Collegio that the chair should be removed from the Bucintoro and replaced by [a bench covered in] crimson satin, as is done when cardinals visit, so that the duke will be equal to our doge."
Editor's note: "The reception of so important a person had several exceptional elements, such as the doffing of the doge's ducal corno and the disembarking of the duke in Piazza San Marco itself rather than in an outlying point of the city. A carefully planned program followed, with the two principal players, the duke and the doge accompanying each other in mutual honor." p 77
Sanudo Diaries Oct 11, 1530: (54:37-38) "After dinner, this being the day designated for the arrival in this city of the most illustrious Duke of Milan, Francesco Sforza, the five heavy fishing boats were prepared; in spite of their costing ten ducats apiece rather than the usual five, they were very small and not very nice. Dressed in gold with a corno and a collared mantle of crimson satin, His Serenity boarded the Bucintoro without any ambassadors; the chair having been removed, he sat on a crimson satin bench. Present were the following... there were many other patricians, though there were few silk robes, and none of the knights wore gold ones. They went to San Chimento (Clemente) to await the duke.... His Serenity who was waiting for the duke in the church, went forth to meet him. The duke took off his cap, and our doge did the same, although by law the ducal bonnet may be doffed only for a king or a cardinal or an imperial elector; however a duke of Milan has never before come to this city. Once the necessary greetings had been made, they boarded the Bucintoro together. The duke has difficulty walking --, and his ambassador, who lives here, went along with him, giving him a hand to help him. His excellency was followed by his brother and preceded by the ambassador to France; present also was the Duke of Ferrara, who went to meet them. Together they boarded the Bucintoro, followed by those other gentlemen and nobles in parity with the senators, all dressed in black. They disembarked at the columns of the Piazzetta, between which they passed after the gangway had been put in place. The Piazza San Marco was half full of people and it took some effort to cross it. The duke usually travels on a small mule, which was actually there in the Piazza, but today he wanted to go on foot. ... "
Editor's note: "For so distinguished a visitor, lodgings were prepared in the Piazza San Marco itself, in the home of one of the procurators...." p. 78
Sanudo Diaries (con't): "The duke was taken to the Procuratia and the house where the patriarch of Aquileia, domino Marco Grimani, is staying. It was very nicely prepared with very beautiful tapestries, etc.; on the balconies were large, very fine rugs from Cairo.... Also placed there on the facade on canvas were two Sforza coats of arms with the Grimani coat of arms beneath. In addition, ser Andrea Lion, procurator, had himself prepared his house very well, although it is always kept in good order; other houses were prepared for other gentlemen, as were all the inns. The doge accompanied the duke upstairs; after he had stayed there a while, he took his leave. The duke accompanied him as far as the door of the room and sent his brother and some other gentlemen to accompany him to the Ducal Palace. It was a sunset then, and nothing else took place. This evening a supper was held for the duke.... Tomorrow he will rest, and the next day he will go to the Signoria. This duke is -[35]- years old and very melancholic; he has difficulty using his hands and walks poorly."
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Editor's note: "For his entertainment, 500 ducats and the use of the Bucintoro were given to the compagnia of the Reali [the Royals, or Kingsmen]. The justification for this support of a great variety of events, including two momarie, was the diplomatic usefulness of such compagnie to the Venetian state, which was in this case a cosponsor." p 500
Sanudo Diaries: Oct 13, 1530 (54:46-47); " In the Senate .... The compagnia of the Reali greatly desiring, no less for their own than for the public reputation, to pay honor to the most illustrious Duke of Milan and his entourage in every way possible, they have for many days now begun to prepare those things that are necessary. Because in so doing they have not stinted on expenditures, which have up to now amounted to a large sum, it is appropriate and worthy of the gratitude and munificence of this state that it should partially aid this compagnia of the Reali, as our Signoria is accustomed to doing in similar cases when it has been opportune to hold public feste in the Ducal Palace to honor an important person, for this also redounds to the honor of our own state. It is therefore proposed that by the authority of the council, a gift of 500 ducats at six lire and four soldi per ducat be made to the compagnia of the Reali for their present needs so that they can increase their funding and fulfill their aforementioned desire. And similarly it is proposed that the compagnia be granted use of the Bucintoro for the one day on which they wish to use it. In favor, 164; opposed, 36; abstaining 3."
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Editor's note: "San Salvador was the church of the savior, a church of immense importance for its foundation and location.... It was at this holy center of the city ... [that] were brought, in the thirteenth century, the remains of Theodore... And it was the intention of its prior, Antonio Contarini, to make San Salvador [i.e. its reconstruction] not only a fitting receptacle for Theodore's relics but also worthy of its titular namesake.... By 1530 the church had been completed and could assume its role as emblem of the sanctified city, the civitas sancta, and the city of regal display. During the ceremonial visit of the Duke of Milan it would serve as a venue for the compagnia della calza of the Reali [Royals, or Kingsmen] to entertain that dignitary, and so the church entered fully into the renewal of the city, its religion, and its politics." pp. 394-5
Sanudo Diaries: Oct 16, 1530 (54:54-55); "This morning, in the church of San Salvador, which had been prepared with tapestries, flags, etc., and where an enclosure had been built in which the Duke of Milan would attend Mass along with the Duke of Ferrara and High Mass would be sung with all the virtuosi in attendance. And the lord of the campagnia of the Reali, ser Zacaria Gabriel, was dressed in cloth of gold with vair and a mantle of two-pile velvet over it, with a large gold chain at his neck and a cap of crimson velvet ... and all the others in crimson velvet with gathered sleeves and many in stoles of double-height black velvet, their stockings embroidered, with a single message above their emblem, adorned with pearls, which read, "May his name soar straight to heaven." And their jackets were of cloth of gold, and there was a wind band. They came to hear a solemn High Mass, as I have said in San Salvador."
Editor's Footnote: "On the importance of the reconstruction of San Salvador as part of the spiritual reformatio and material renovatio of Venice see Concina 1988; and Tafuri 1983. Tafuri suggests that the reconstruction of this Venetian church, with its enormous interior space, may have been a response to Julius II's grandiose plans for St Peter's in Rome, whose reconstruction began on 18 April 1506. Cf. McAndrew 198, 455." p. 396.
Concina, Ennio, 1988: Una fabbrica in mezzo della citta: la chiesae il convento di San Salvador. In "Progetto S. Salvador": un restauro per l'innovazione a venezia, ed. Caputo Fulvio, 72-153. Venice: Albrizzi.
Tafuri, Manfredo. 1983: Pietas repubblicana, neobizantinismo e umanesimo: Giorgio Spavento e Tullio Lombardo nella chiesa di San Salvador. Ricerche di Stroria dell'Arte 19:5-36
McAndrew, John. 1980: Venetian architecture of the early Renaissance. Cambridge, MA; MIT Press
All quotes as Sanudo Diaries or Editor's notes or Editor's Footnotes, as well as bibliography entries, from Venice, Cita Excellentissima, Selection from the Renaissance Diaries of Marin Sanudo translated by Linda L Carroll, editors: Patricia H LaBalme and Laura Sanguineti White, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008
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