Capitolo 4 Lines of Venetian history

6 - The end
pag.  1 2 3 4 5 6 

The siege of Corf�. In Venice papal , Portuguese and Habsburg contingents came to give help and also thanks to them it could keep the island. The conflict, however, was decided by a victory of the Austrian over Turkish in Hungary.	The last conquest, difficult to keep for the distance, had not long life: in 1714 the Turks recovered without excessive effort the Peloponnese, taking advantage of the "political" loneliness of Venice. Then they tried to take also Corf�, but the resistance of the Serenissima sharpened and this time came into its aid some christian states, among which the Habsburg of Austria. Even thanks to their aid Venice could keep Corf�, (1716), the last bulwark of that "stato da mar" that so much made proud the Venice of the past.
A "view of Venice" by Canaletto.	At the same time the city enjoys an unbelievable artistic season: its palaces, its churches , its public places become rich of a great number of art works, so that the government decides to make them inventoried to prevent that they finish abroad; Venice is, in fact, travel destination of many wealthy foreigners and its aspect and its artistic treasures earn the admiration and the desire of keeping a tangible memory. So it was born a pictorial school called of the "vedutisti", who make famous "views of Venice", (let us remember, among all the vedutisti, Guardi and Canaletto). In Canaletto the "view" takes on a character of pleased meticulousness in the representation of the spaces and the architect components, and of a strong fondness for the "hot" shades in chromaticism. His views were so appreciated and required by foreign rich people (Venice, in the eighteenth century, was an obliged "stop" of the "Tour"!) who at a certain point decided to move to London, where he worked for 10 years. Inside the palaces and the public buildings has a great success , on the contrary, the art of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, author of beautiful frescoes. His son Giandomenico, with Pietro Longhi, specializes in the painting "of genre", representing nice scenes of social and familiar life. In the theatres rages the creative vein of Carlo Goldoni. In his workshop of sculptor Antonio Canova creates the "Dedalo and Icaro", prototype of that neoclassic sculpture that will make him famous all over the world. And these are only some examples.
A member of the Maggior Consiglio.	While the life of the city patriciate drags on among parties and artistic activities, new great events are upsetting the world: the American and French revolutions, the advent of Napoleone. When Bonaparte invades the Po Valley, Venice gives up supporting Bergamo and Verona that had rebelled to the Napoleonic advance. He tries to resort still once to the diplomatic ability , but the ambitious French commander passes to the attack. The Venetian ruling class, unwarlike and too worried about losing the possessions in the mainland, accepts the unbelievable conditions and deliberates the end of the Serenissima! The last meeting of the Maggior Consiglio had begun reading the deliberation (suggested by Napoleone), when they heard shots of gun. The advisors, terrified, thought it was a French attack and , though there were not the legal number, they voted the end of the Venetian institutions. The shots were the blanks of greeting of the faithful Slavonian soldiers who left Venice! It is the 12 May 1797. Only the people, artisans and shopkeepers in primis , understands that behind the " freedom" trumpeted by Napoleone there is the ruin. He rebels and is caught at cannonades from the Rialto bridge. But he was right: after some day Napoleone with his army enters Venice and sacks it methodically; some months more and the city is surrendered to Austria, becoming, so, subject to the emperor.