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VIII. THE DUCAL PALACE. 293
it," he says, " the Cancellaria, and the Gheba or Gabbia, afterwards called the Little Tower." *
Gabbia means a " cage;" and there can be no question that
certain apartments were at this time added at the top of the
palace and on the Rio Facade, which were to be used as prisons. Whether any portion of the old Torresella still remains
is a doubtful question; but the apartments at the top of the
palace, in its fourth story, were still used for prisons as late as
the beginning of the seventeenth century, f I wish the reader
especially to notice that a separate tower or range of apartments was built for this purpose, in order to clear the government of the accusations so constantly made against them, by
ignorant or partial historians, of wanton cruelty to prisoners.
The stories commonly told respecting the "piombi" of the
Ducal Palace are utterly false. Instead of being, as usually
reported, small furnaces under the leads of the palace, they
were comfortable rooms, with good flat roofs of larch, and carefully ventilated.:): The new chamber, then, and the prisons,
being built, the Great Council first sat in their retired chamber
on the Rio in the year 1309.
§ xvi. Now, observe the significant progress of events.
They had no sooner thus established themselves in power than
they were disturbed by the conspiracy of the Tiepolos, in the
year 1310. In consequence of that conspiracy the Council of
Ten was created, still under the Doge Gradenigo; who, having
finished his work and left the aristocracy of Venice armed
with this terrible power, died in the year 1312, some say by
poison. He was succeeded by the Doge Marino Giorgio, who
* "Viera appresso la Cancellaria, e la Gheba o Gabbia, chiamata poi
Torresella."—P. 324. A small square tower is seen above the Vine angle in
the view of Venice dated 1500, and attributed to Albert Durer. It appears
about 25 feet square, and is very probably the Torresella in question.
+ Vide Bettio, Lettera, p. 23.
1 Bettio, Lettera, p. 20. " Those who wrote without having seen them
described them as covered with lead; and those who have seen them know
that, between their flat timber roofs and the sloping leaden roof of the
palace, the interval is five metres where it is least, and nine where it is
greatest."
| Title | The stones of Venice - 2 |
| Creator | Ruskin, John |
| Publisher | J. Wiley |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1889 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000337 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | VIII. THE DUCAL PALACE. 293 it," he says, " the Cancellaria, and the Gheba or Gabbia, afterwards called the Little Tower." * Gabbia means a " cage;" and there can be no question that certain apartments were at this time added at the top of the palace and on the Rio Facade, which were to be used as prisons. Whether any portion of the old Torresella still remains is a doubtful question; but the apartments at the top of the palace, in its fourth story, were still used for prisons as late as the beginning of the seventeenth century, f I wish the reader especially to notice that a separate tower or range of apartments was built for this purpose, in order to clear the government of the accusations so constantly made against them, by ignorant or partial historians, of wanton cruelty to prisoners. The stories commonly told respecting the "piombi" of the Ducal Palace are utterly false. Instead of being, as usually reported, small furnaces under the leads of the palace, they were comfortable rooms, with good flat roofs of larch, and carefully ventilated.:): The new chamber, then, and the prisons, being built, the Great Council first sat in their retired chamber on the Rio in the year 1309. § xvi. Now, observe the significant progress of events. They had no sooner thus established themselves in power than they were disturbed by the conspiracy of the Tiepolos, in the year 1310. In consequence of that conspiracy the Council of Ten was created, still under the Doge Gradenigo; who, having finished his work and left the aristocracy of Venice armed with this terrible power, died in the year 1312, some say by poison. He was succeeded by the Doge Marino Giorgio, who * "Viera appresso la Cancellaria, e la Gheba o Gabbia, chiamata poi Torresella."—P. 324. A small square tower is seen above the Vine angle in the view of Venice dated 1500, and attributed to Albert Durer. It appears about 25 feet square, and is very probably the Torresella in question. + Vide Bettio, Lettera, p. 23. 1 Bettio, Lettera, p. 20. " Those who wrote without having seen them described them as covered with lead; and those who have seen them know that, between their flat timber roofs and the sloping leaden roof of the palace, the interval is five metres where it is least, and nine where it is greatest." |
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