The Procuratie (English: Procuracies) are three connected buildings along the perimeter of Saint Mark's Square in Venice, Italy. Two of the buildings, the Procuratie Vecchie (Old Procuracies) and the Procuratie Nuove (New Procuracies), were constructed by the procurators of Saint Mark, the second-highest dignitaries in the government of the Republic of Venice, who were charged with administering the treasury of the Church of Saint Mark as well as the financial affairs of state wards and trust funds established on behalf of religious and charitable institutions.
The Procuratie Vecchie on the northern side of the square was built during the War of the League of Cambrai in the early sixteenth century to replace an earlier structure, damaged by fire. Although the war imposed financial constraints and limited innovation, it was nevertheless the first major public building in Venice to be erected in a purely classical style. It always contained apartments that were rented by the procurators as a source of revenue to finance building projects and repairs. Rental income was significant, given the prestige of the location. But the apartments were eventually sold to raise immediate money for the government, and several of them were subsequently transformed into clubhouses.
The Procuratie Nuove on the southern side housed the official residences of the procurators. Built between the late-sixteenth and mid-seventeenth centuries to replace a series of dilapidated medieval structures, it represented the culmination of an extensive programme of urban renewal that lasted over a hundred years and profoundly transformed Venice's city centre, giving it the appearance of a great classical forum. Both the official residences in the Procuratie Nuove and the rental apartments in the Procuratie Vecchie were built above arcades with space on the ground floor that was rented out for stores, workshops, and later coffeehouses, including the historic Caffè Florian, Caffè Quadri, and Caffè Lavena.
The Procuratie Nuovissime (Newest Procuracies, also known as the Napoleonic Wing) was built during the second period of French occupation (1805–1815) when after the fall of the Republic of Venice, the Procuratie Nuove was transformed into the residence of the viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy. Today, much of the Procuratie Nuove and the Napoleonic Wing house the Museo Correr.
Procurators of Saint Mark
The office of procurator of Saint Mark, considered second only to that of the doge in prestige, was one of the few lifetime appointments in the Venetian government.Cappelletti, Relazione storica sulle magistrature venete, p. 99Da Mosto, L'Archivio di Stato di Venezia…, p. 25 It was routinely occupied by nobles belonging to the most influential families and typically represented the climax of a distinguished political career, although it was often an intermediate position prior to election as doge.In the 1663 edition of Venetia città nobilissima et singolare..., Martinioni records 40 procurators who, beginning in 1275, were subsequently elected doge. For the complete list, see Sansovino and Martinioni, Venetia città nobilissima et singolare..., 1663 edn., pp 299–300.
The office originated in the ninth century with a single procurator operis Sancti Marci, nominated to assist the doge in the administration of the Church of Saint Mark, the ducal chapel.Tiepolo, 'Venezia', p. 886 Over time the number of procurators increased. By the mid-thirteenth century there were four procurators, two of which, the procurators de supra, retained responsibility for the administration of the Church of Saint Mark and its treasury. The other two procurators, called , administered trust funds established as pious donations on behalf of religious and charitable institutions. In 1319, there were six procurators, and in 1443 there were nine. These were divided into three procuracies: de supra (responsible for the Church of Saint Mark and its treasury), de citra (responsible for trust funds established in the sestieri (districts) of San Marco, Castello, and Cannaregio), and de ultra (responsible for trust funds established in the sestieri of San Polo, Santa Croce, and Dorsoduro). Beginning in 1516, initially to aid in the economic recovery from the War of the League of Cambrai, supernumerary procurators could also be created in moments of financial constraint in exchange for monetary contributions to the treasury. This amounted to the periodic sale of the prestigious title. The number of procurators fluctuated thereafter: in 1521, there were eighteen.Morresi, Piazza san Marco..., p. 13 At times, the number rose to forty.Da Mosto, L'Archivio di Stato di Venezia…, p. 26 The effective sale of the position also made it possible for young and ambitious nobles to quickly rise to high office and to consequently exert great influence. In the sixteenth century, notably Antonio Cappello, Vettore Grimani, Federico Contarini, and Andrea Dolfin purchased the office.Howard, 'Architectural Politics in Renaissance Venice', p. 49
In addition to the associated public honour, the office of procurator ensured an active role in the political life of Venice: after 1453, it guaranteed a seat in the Senate. Apart from extraordinary embassies to foreign courts, the procurators were also relieved from the obligation incumbent upon all nobles to accept political appointments, including on the Venetian mainland and in the overseas possessions, thus ensuring their presence in the city.Cappelletti, Relazione storica sulle magistrature venete, p. 100A deliberation of 1305 required that the Great Council specifically authorize a procurator to occupy a seat on any council. Subsequently, in 1388, it was established that only one procurator for each procuracy could hold another government office. But beginning in 1569, the procurators were allowed to serve as Savio Grande. See Da Mosto, L'Archivio di Stato di Venezia…, p. 25. The position also brought economic and financial influence through the management of vast amounts of capital and of investments in commercial and private real estate, in government bonds, and in securities and deposits. With the exception of the Doge's Palace, the procurators de supra were also specifically responsible for the construction, maintenance, and management of the public buildings around Saint Mark's Square, including the shops, food stalls, and apartments that were rented out as sources of revenue.
Procuratie Vecchie
Historical background
Following the enlargement of Saint Mark's Square in the second half of the twelfth century, several buildings and lands in and near the square were donated as rental properties to the Commune of Venice, principally by Doge Sebastiano Ziani and his immediate descendants.Agazzi, Platea Sancti Marci…, pp. 84–85Chronicles date the enlargement of the square alternatively to the reigns of Vitale II Michiel (1156–1172) or Sebastiano Ziani (1172–1178). See Agazzi, Platea Sancti Marci…, p. 79.The Commune of Venice, rather than the doge, is first mentioned as the representative authority of the State in 1143. See Maranini, La costituzione di Venezia..., I, p. 102. Subsequently, the administration of many of the properties was delegated to the procurators de supra.Agazzi, Platea Sancti Marci…, p. 85The act is in the State Archives of Venice in PS b. 70, proc. 155, cc. 17–26. See Agazzi, Platea Sancti Marci…, p. 82. The intention was to create a steady flow of revenue in order to fund further work on the Church of Saint Mark and provide charitable assistance to the poor, thus avoiding the need to rely upon private pious donations and state financing. The properties included the long building erected by Ziani along the northern side of the square. As shown in Gentile Bellini's Processione di Corpus Domini in Piazza san Marco (1496), it was a two-storey building with a series of apartments above and shops on the ground floor that were leased.Agazzi, Platea Sancti Marci…, p. 100
A fire in June 1512 destroyed one of the apartments near the clocktower and led to the collapse of a portion of the façade.Sanudo, Diarii, XIV (1886), col. 305, 10 June 1512 It was subsequently decided that notwithstanding the financial constraints at the time of the War of the League of Cambrai (1508–1516), the entire structure would be rebuilt as a statement of Venice's self-confidence. Significantly, Marin Sanudo remarked in his diary that the reconstruction was "in order to make it very beautiful for the glory of the land … despite the war" ("farle di novo e bellissime, che sarà onor di la terra … ben sia la guerra").Sanudo, Diarii, XV (1886), col. 541, February 1513
The architect of the Procuratie Vecchie is not known from any official source, and various names have been suggested, primarily on the basis of stylistic considerations and the prominence of the individual architect at the time. These include Mauro Codussi, Pietro Lombardo, and Antonio Abbondi.Adolfo Venturi, Giulio Lorenzetti, Luigi Angelini, and Lionello Puppi attribute the design to Mauro Codussi who is generally considered to be the architect of the adjacent clock tower. Paolo D’Ancona and Maria Luisa Gengaro attribute the lower two levels to Codussi and the upper floor to Bartolomeo Bon. But Codussi died in 1504, and there is no indication that the substitution of the previous building was planned prior to the fire of 1512. Pietro Selvatico and Julius Baum consider the design of the lower two levels to be the work of Pietro Lombardo, who at the time was over eighty, and attribute the upper level to Bon. Donatella Calabi also suggests Antonio Abbondi, called “Scarpagnino”, due to the similarity of his work at Rialto after the fire of 1514. See Agazzi, Platea Sancti Marci…, pp. 107-108 and Morresi, Piazza san Marco..., pp. 21-25 and 46 (note 40) for bibliographical references. With regard to the sixteenth-century sources, Marin Sanudo mentions the little-known Tuscan architect Zuan Celestro in his diary (1514),Sanudo, Diarii, XVIII (1887), col. 10, 5 March 1514 whereas Francesco Sansovino in his guide to the city (1581) attributes the design to , the proto (consultant architect and buildings manager) to the procurators de supra.Sansovino, Venetia città nobilissima et singolare…, 1581 edn., fol. 105rThe name of Bon is confirmed in the witness statement of procurator Melchiorre Michiel in the 1569 case "Proprietà in Campo Russolo". The relative document is in the State Archives of Venice in PS, b. 33, processo 68, fascicolo 2. See Howard, The Architectural History of Venice, p. 129 and Morresi, Piazza san Marco..., p. 87. Howard's text identifies the architect as Bartolomeo Bon since it predates Stefano Mariani's archival research on Pietro Bon, consultant architect and buildings manager for the procurators de supra who was often confused with Bartolomeo Bon, chief consulting architect for the Salt Office. See Mariani, 'Vita e opere dei proti Bon Bartolomeo e Pietro' for relative documentation and the attribution of various projects. But the precise contributions of Bon and Celestro to the design remain unclear.Deborah Howard suggests that Bon may have simply followed Celestro’s design. See Howard, The Architectural History of Venice, pp. 129-130. Alternatively, John McAndrew proposes that the layout may be the design of Celestro whereas the façade can be attributed to Bon. See McAndrew, L’architettura veneziana…, p. 420. Both Michela Agazzi and Manfredo Tafuri note that a collaboration between Bon and Celestro also existed at the Great School of San Rocco. But Manuela Morresi suggests that the Tuscan architect involved in the Procuratie Vecchie and the Great School of San Rocco may be two separate individuals. See Agazzi, Platea Sancti Marci…, p. 108, Morresi, Piazza san Marco..., pp. 22–25, and Tafuri, Renovatio Urbis…, pp. 130–131. Bon, as proto, was nevertheless responsible for oversight during construction.Howard, The Architectural History of Venice, p. 129