Un doge sui ponteggi: i libri dei conti di fabbrica del Palazzo Donà dalle Rose a Venezia. Ulteriori considerazioni

This paper is the second part of a contribution to this same editorial collection, published in 2019. It is devoted to the construction of Ca’ Donà dalle Rose in Venice, between 1610 and 1612. This was the palace that Doge Leonardo Donà had chosen to build as his family house. From an analysis of the building site accounts (receipts and account books) housed in the private family archives, as well as – contemporary treatises from the Veneto region, and – comparisons with a few other sporadic sources, it’s been possible to piece together in detail the construction techniques and materials used to build the palace. In an overall reconstruction of the evolution of the Donà building site this paper concentrates on the masonry, plastering, guttering and flooring. The research has cleared up some previously unanswered questions and furnished some new details about building construction in Venice in early modern times. It also shows how this type of research can broadly enrich the history of architecture, with useful contributions to interpreting the reasoning behind the choice of patrons.