ABSTRACT
The situation of the arts in fi fteenth-century Venice
differed in important ways from that of the other lead-
ing art centers in Italy. The Venetian republic was, like
Florence, an oligarchy. It was ruled by an elected doge
(13.1), a Council of Ten, and the Great Council-both
councils consisting of patricians. Venice was also a
wealthy city, a crossroads between Italy and Byzan-
tium sustained by trade and an empire that extended
from the Aegean Sea to parts of Lombardy in northern
Italy. Waterways and lagoons were its streets, and these
provided a natural defense that was reinforced by a
powerful fl eet.
