ABSTRACT
Descriptions of the Venetian Arsenal abound - in the words of DanteY1 of Saint-Didieq2 of the Flemish humanist Latomus: of Gasparo ContariniY4 and of G a l i l e ~ . ~ It received official acclamation from the government of Venice itself, which, in 1jo9, referred to it in an ordinance as 'the heart of the state9.6 Innumerable favourable judgements could be quoted, since exaggerated statements slipping from the pens of hasty, careless. or biased observers also serve to show how contem~oraries could be made to believe almost anything about this establishment. However, these accounts, whether genuine or exaggerated, cannot satisfy our curiosity. We shall concentrate on one of them, which is extremely important for its original statement of the case. In his Cronachetta.7 Marino Sanuto savs: 'the Arsenal is truly one of the finest things in the world; .' . .
