Cosmopolitanism in Venice and State Strategies

Jacopo de’ Barbari’s View depicts a cosmopolitan state that visually communicates the symbolic and economic function of the city and its principal sites before the noteworthy urban interventions of the sixteenth century. This includes the transformation of Piazza San Marco into a sociopolitical stage, delimiting its original economic purpose; early in the sixteenth century, the Rialto becomes the city’s economic core. To make way for new architectural structures, physical modification within Piazza San Marco included the removal of guesthouses, apartments for wealthy foreign merchants who resided in the city, and osterie (hostelries) for those who came temporarily to Venice for business transactions. In conjunction with its political agenda, the state relocated foreign communities to specific areas within the city; the Jews obtained a permanent, unified, and clearly demarcated presence within the Ghetto, established in 1516. In this way, the state simultaneously welcomed non-Venetian communities and managed and controlled their presence.