But this grand illusion, whose stage was the city itself, was founded in reality. By the 1500s, venice claimed 1,000 years of history as a free and independent republic. The chill wind of economic change the decline of empire had not yet touched its selfconfidence. It was still rich in trade and crafts. Its imperial possessions still spread out across the mediterranean and into the italian mainland, as here at vicenza. So the theater and the spectacle were props for a powerful empire which had survived for so long by hardheaded business acumen, by skillful diplomacy, and when those failed, by sheer military force. The cast of characters who paraded on this spectacular stage included the gods of antiquity whose attributes the city took as its own. Like ancient athens, venice personified itself as a woman as serenissima the serene as venus the sensual. The city even claimed a special relationship with the virgin mary virtuous and pure. Behind its spectacular mask the republic used its pr
With its good life its humane values, its sense of play, even. And it dramatized itself as an ideal city both for its own inhabitants and for the world outside. This civic drama was acted out through processions, ceremonies, and spectacle, and through art and architecture but this grand illusion, whose stage was the city itself, was founded in reality. By the 1500s, venice claimed 1,000 years of history as a free and independent republic. The chill wind of economic change the decline of empire had not yet touched its selfconfidence. It was still rich in trade and crafts. Its imperial possessions still spread out across the mediterranean and into the italian mainland, as here at vicenza. So the theater and the spectacle were props for a powerful empire which had survived for so long by hardheaded business acumen, by skillful diplomacy, and when those failed, by sheer military force. The cast of characters who paraded on this spectacular stage included the gods of antiquity whose attribu
The chill wind of economic change the decline of empire had not yet touched its selfconfidence. It was still rich in trade and crafts. Its imperial possessions still spread out across the mediterranean and into the italian mainland, as here at vicenza. So the theater and the spectacle were props for a powerful empire which had survived for so long by hardheaded business acumen, by skillful diplomacy, and when those failed, by sheer military force. The cast of characters who paraded on this spectacular stage included the gods of antiquity whose attributes the city took as its own. Like ancient athens, venice personified itself as a woman as serenissima the serene as venus the sensual. The city even claimed a special relationship with the virgin mary virtuous and pure. Behind its spectacular mask the republic used its prisoners of war as slaves employed thousands of prostitutes and preserved the privilege of democracy for a small clique of nobles. Compared with tyrannies of princes venic
As a free and independent republic. The chill wind of economic change the decline of empire had not yet touched its selfconfidence. It was still rich in trade and crafts. Its imperial possessions still spread out across the mediterranean and into the italian mainland, as here at vicenza. So the theater and the spectacle were props for a powerful empire which had survived for so long by hardheaded business acumen, by skillful diplomacy, and when those failed, by sheer military force. The cast of characters who paraded on this spectacular stage included the gods of antiquity, whose attributes the city took as its own. Like ancient athens, venice personified itself as a woman as serenissima the serene, as venus the sensual. The city even claimed a special relationship with the virgin mary, virtuous and pure. Behind its spectacular mask, the republic used its prisoners of war as slaves, employed thousands of prostitutes, and preserved the privilege of democracy for a small clique of nobles
The chill wind of economic change the decline of empire had not yet touched its selfconfidence. It was still rich in trade and crafts. Its imperial possessions still spread out across the mediterranean and into the italian mainland, as here at vicenza. So the theater and the spectacle were props for a powerful empire which had survived for so long by hardheaded business acumen, by skillful diplomacy, and when those failed, by sheer military force. The cast of characters who paraded on this spectacular stage included the gods of antiquity, whose attributes the city took as its own. Like ancient athens, venice personified itself as a woman as serenissima the serene, as venus the sensual. The city even claimed a special relationship with the virgin mary, virtuous and pure. Behind its spectacular mask, the republic used its prisoners of war as slaves, employed thousands of prostitutes, and preserved the privilege of democracy for a small clique of nobles. Compared with tyrannies of princes