View from Venice: The Renaissance is the name of the father

Abstract

Padua in later Trecento is an energetic example of a city-state adapting a part-external model, that is ancient Rome, to project its own self-image and annex external power to itself. It is Florence in the early fifteenth century which most rigorously annexes the antique within a context of new codes for architecture, sculpture and painting. Thus it manifests its desire for contemporary power. The main point of the paper is to look, however, at Padua's neighbouring state of Venice and to make some tentative readings of the late entry of the so-called Renaissance in Venice in the light of recent interpretations.