Domenico I Contarini
Encyclopedia
Domenico Flabanico
Domenico Flabanico was the 29th Doge of Venice. His reign lasted from the abdication of Pietro Barbolano in 1032 until his death.Before Domenico Flabanico took office, there was a significant chaos in Venice...
in 1043 until his own death in 1071. During his reign, the Venetians recaptured Zadar
Zadar
Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...
and parts of Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
that had been lost to the Kingdom of Croatia
Kingdom of Croatia (medieval)
The Kingdom of Croatia , also known as the Kingdom of the Croats , was a medieval kingdom covering most of what is today Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Balkans.Established in 925, it ruled as a sovereign state for almost two centuries...
in the previous few decades. The Venetian naval fleet was heavily built up during his reign, the economy thrived, and the Republic of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
had reasserted its control over much of the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
.
Family
The House of Contarini were one of the oldest founding families of the Venetian Republic, and were and remain through extended family consanguinity present in the VenetoVeneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
’s population, represented in over 20 auxiliary and cadet noble branches that include ranks among Europe’s and Great Britain’s sovereign, royal and aristocratic descendants.
960 AD marks the first historically verified documentation of the Contarini. Domenico hailed as the first, Contarini born, Doge
Doge
Doge is a dialectal Italian word that descends from the Latin dux , meaning "leader", especially in a military context. The wife of a Doge is styled a Dogaressa....
. By 1797, when the most recent Doge reigned, the family had produced 8 Doges—many were much loved and revered by the Republic’s sophisticated citizenry—whom had been quite successful at enriching the state’s coffers, culture and worldwide high-status.
Indeed, the Contarini had led, at various points, the Venetian Republic, forward through ever changing ages and commensurate with ample changes in trade, technology, trade: both import and exports, science, religion, art, banking and finance as well as in diplomacy … and war.
A good thing, too, is that many wealthy Venetians, such as the Contarini, enjoyed the many monetary and health benefits wrought of eg. the Spice Trade aka Spice trade
Spice trade
Civilizations of Asia were involved in spice trade from the ancient times, and the Greco-Roman world soon followed by trading along the Incense route and the Roman-India routes...
, which facilitated longevity, a fundamental requirement for assumption of the role of Doge, since the position mandated that a Doge, “must be an octogenarian who commands health, wealth and wisdom”.
Significant were the numerous geo-political and economic contributions made by generations of the august House of Contarini to the long-lived Venetian Republic.
After all, it pays to consider that the Venetian Republic, in one form or another, lasted as a functioning independent state for over 1500 years!
It was only Napoleon’s march into Venice, which sounded its ignominious demise, registered as a direct assault on its elite aristocratic stalwart families and their assiduously tracked bloodlines contained in the fabled Book of Books, which Napoleon, have been ill-received by the Venetians, took umbrage and took malicious revenge by seizing and burning one the most ancient copies of that pedigreed manuscript to spite the aristocracy whom had shunned him.
No less, the Contarini, like many of their Republic’s peers, had already indulged a predilection for building magnificent residential and civic structures. Over time that proved itself a taste that seems to have been hereditary, as evidenced by the sheer volume, high-quality and variety of styles executed over the centuries, which invariably came to bear a uniquely "exuberant Venetian design vocabulary", bearing distinct and unmistakable Eastern European, Near and Far Eastern influences and luxuriousness..
Often, their extant buildings are seen punctuated by ornamental flourishes (often errantly referred to as pre-Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
) ie, design elements that balance at counterpoint, effecting a unifying whole, the austere and understated elegance of a building’s often plainer core element, be it dictated by a predominate shape, material or repetition of decoration treatment(s). That often accounts for the lasting powerful, uncluttered, visual interest and impact made by Venetian
Venetian
Venetian may refer to:*Venetian language, a language spoken in Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Mexico, Istria and Brazil.* Venetian cuisine* Venetian wine*Historical inhabitants of the Republic of Venice...
buildings, no matter how ornate the edifice. Touted by accomplished native sons such as Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio was an architect active in the Republic of Venice. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily by Vitruvius, is widely considered the most influential individual in the history of Western architecture...
, who was employed by the Contarini and their relatives: he designed several of the most outstanding neo-classical structures in the Veneto’s environs.
Importantly, the latter’s works satisfied his clients, which, full-circle, he had helped to create. Many such works are found to have often favored a minimalist, if neo-classical, dialog among their design elements. A passion for purity of line, scale and proportion were fundamental to and codified in Palladio’s Quattro Libri dell'Architettura aka The Four Books of Architecture, detailing vital points of design interest for architecture and decoration enthusiasts and professionals, and remains used by architecture students even today.
So it can be little surprise that the Contarinis’ sense of self and value was closely linked and entwined with their precious buildings. That oeuvre includes a dazzling array of palaces extant in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Vincenza, Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
, and Brescia
Brescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
as well the enormous family country seat, the Villa Contarini
Villa Contarini
Villa Contarini is a patrician villa veneta in Piazzola sul Brenta, province of Padova, northern Italy. The villa is in Baroque style and is backed by a 40 ha park with lakes and alleys....
—which contains the family’s immortal crypt, centered in a rural Padua aka Padova (its Italian spelling)—and serves in part as a reminder to onlookers of the family's glorious legacy and contributions to the Venetian Republic, and by extension, to the world.
Like their Villa, what prevails is a central and unified theme, effectively a “structure”, which in the brick and motor, stone and anvil sense, had come to represent the formation of a great mercantile civilization. The Villa's humble home town setting … serves to buttress the area’s agrarian mythos, a very real and essential aspect of the Venetian Republic's long tenure at sustained independence. It very existence signifies the significance of a preserved “terra ferma” aka the Vento, tasked to apt farming, for feeding the Republic … it is one of exuberance and seemingly unfathomable grandeur, yet so tellingly practical beyond its luxury. It encompasses and forms, as if a metaphor itself, its host village’s center, known, tellingly as Piazzola sul Brenta
Piazzola sul Brenta
Piazzola sul Brenta is a comune in the Province of Padua in the Italian region Veneto, located about 45 km west of Venice and about 15 km northwest of Padua.-Main sights:*Villa Contarini, begun by Andrea Palladio...
: built by descendants of no other than Domenico Contarini.
Life
After the capture of Zadar, Venice entered an era of peace. Domenico Contarini maintained friendly relations with the Byzantine Emperors, the PopePope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, and the Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
, Henry III
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry III , called the Black or the Pious, was a member of the Salian Dynasty of Holy Roman Emperors...
.
Contarini was a liberal builder of churches and monasteries, such as San Nicolò di Lido in Lido di Venezia and Sant'Angelo di Concordia. In 1071, just before his death, he commissioned builders to begin work on expanding and restoring St Mark's Basilica
St Mark's Basilica
The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice, northern Italy. It is the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture...
.
By his wish, he was buried at the church of San Nicolò al Lido
San Nicolò al Lido
San Nicolò al Lido is a church in Venice, northern Italy. It is located in the northern part of Venice's Lido, and houses the relics of St. Nicholas, patron of sailors...
when he died in 1071. His tomb is above the main doorway, surmounted by a portrait bust which shows him wearing the "corno," the distinctive doge's hat.