The Gothic
The historical and iconographic research for the third period of art history considered, the Gothic Age, was directed by Juergen Schulz (Brown University, Providence). Without abandoning the conventional distinction between Romanesque and Gothic, the project aimed to describe the development and formal features of Veneto architecture from the twelfth to the fourteenth century by recognising its specificity compared to the architectures of, for example, France or Germany. Having initially spread from Venice to the other Veneto towns and cities, Gothic features continued to be built longer on the mainland, while in the capital they often survived in some architectural elements of buildings while others not far away already boasted the new Renaissance forms. The main themes identified – urbanism, military architecture and “palatial” architecture (especially palazzi comunali) were then analysed throughout the whole of the Middle Ages. Two approaches were adopted in the campaign of identifying and acquiring images: research into and retrieval of historical iconographic material and a new photographic campaign. Both were carried out by Cameraphoto arte, Venice. To describe the outstanding Veneto Gothic architecture, a total of 230 images were collected, including 140 from Storia dell’architettura nel Veneto. Il Gotico (2010) published by Marsilio and Regione Veneto.
53 buildings (187 pictures) have been photographed documenting this period.
