ABSTRACT
In a letter of 1537 to his landlord Domenico Bolani, the controversial Renaissance writer Pietro Aretino praised the house on the Grand Canal in Venice in which he was living, quoting the opinion of the “famous Giulio Camillo … who used to say affably that the land entrance of the house I have described, being dark, lop-sided, with nasty stairs, was like the terrible name I have acquired through airing the truth; and then he added that whoever gets to know me intimately finds in my pure, sincere and honest friendship the tranquil contentment experienced on coming out onto the portico and looking out over those balconies.” 1 Like the writer, known as “the scourge of princes”, Aretino’s house had two aspects: one dark and treacherous the other an expansive overview of the vibrant life of the city in which it was situated.
