In this volume Giulia Zanon sheds new light on our grasp of social hierarchy and the possibilities for social mobility in pre-modern Italy. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach that combines deep archival research with a multitude of artistic and architectural artefacts, this work breaks new ground by contextualizing the part played by social relationships and the arts in publicly affirming and displaying the prestige of the middling sorts, the cittadini, in early modern Venice.
Giulia Zanon, Ph.D. (Leeds, 2020), is Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Caâ Foscari University of Venice. She is a social and cultural historian whose research uses interdisciplinary methodologies to examine early modern Mediterranean society.
â...The bookâs greatest strength, and what sets it apart from similar works, is the breadth of sources deployed to investigate cittadini networks and patronage. [...] Zanon presents a compelling case for the importance of studying cittadini social and patronage networks within the structure of early modern Venetian society. The book skilfully outlines how the «middle stratum of society» used artistic patronage to «legitimise its existence in the eyes of the patriciate and to distinguish and further elevate itself from the lower strata» (p. 6). As such, this book will be an invaluable resource for historians and students studying the cittadini of Venice and the social networks of the scuole grandi in particular.â
Zoe Farrell, University of Oxford, in: ARO, VIII, 2025, 1, URL: https://aro-isig.fbk.eu/issues/2025/1/cittadini-of-venice-zoe-farrell/
Contents
List of Figures Abbreviations Acknowledgements
Introduction
âResearch Context
âSources and Methodology
âStructure
1 Membership and Administration of the scuole grandi
â1âThe Civic Role of the scuole grandi
â2âThe scuole grandi as âLittle Republicsâ for the cittadini
â3âPrecious Memories: Structure and Materiality of the Libri dâArgento
â4âSocial Ties, Admission and Membership in the Confraternities
â5âCorruption and Regulation of scuole Governance
â6âConclusion
2 Cittadini Patronage in the scuole grandi
â1âThe Relationship between scuole and the Civic Unity of the cittadini
â2âProcessions and Rituals
â3âPatronage of Books
â4âCittadini Artistic Patronage in Relation to the scuole
â5âScuole Medals
â6âConclusion
3 Cittadini Cultural Networks
â1âLawyers of Venice: an Honourable Profession
â2âThe Early Creation of Cultural Networks: the Education of cittadini
â3âThe Intellectual Circle: Academies, ridotti and Friendships
â4âPatrons and Friends of Writers
â5âThe Arts as a Cultural Gathering
â6âConclusion
4 Cittadini, Parishes and the Counter-Reformation
â1âNew Opportunities for Patronage: Church Reconstruction
â2âCittadini and Chapels within Parish Churches
â3âClergy, Laity and the Promotion of New Cults of Saints
â4âSpeaking Tombs: Burial Sites and Social Relationships
â5âConclusion
The primary readership of the book will be academic (students, libraries and research institutes) interested in Renaissance history, history of art and the history of Venice, and early modern Italy/Europe.