martedì 31 luglio 2012

Risotto del Doge


Risotto del Doge

Introduction: Word is that Risotto del Doge was Giacomo Casanova's favorite dish.
At least that's what is written in an old Venetian cook book, which in turn based this story on an older book, written in 1720 and affirming that this was the dish the famous Venetian writer and seducer loved the most.



Ingredients: for 4 persons
300 gr. of rice Vialone nano, 12 oysters of which 4 left whole, 1/2 liter of dry white wine, 3 liters of Gò broth, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 onion, Oil, Parsley, Salt and pepper, 30 gr. Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, 50 gr. butter, Round lemon slices for decoration



Preparation: 
Prepare a light soffritto (sautéed mixture of finely chopped ingredients) with garlic, oil, parsley, salt and pepper, and shelled oysters. Finely chop the onion; add the rice and toast it for a couple of minutes.
Cook the rice in the Gò broth.
Once the rice has been cooked, add the soffritto, dry white wine, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and butter. In the meantime, let cook the four whole, and open, oysters seasoned with a bit of pepper and a drop of dry white wine.
Serve with the whole oysters and lemon slices as decorative trimmings.
Accompany with wine, Pinot Bianco or Sauvignon.


Preparation Time: 20 minutes

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The vessels are executed one by one from the best glass masters. 
The material composition is the art glass and are created using techniques similar to those used in Murano. The finishes can be with aventurine with silver leaf. gold leaf. etc. .... 
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The quality of these products is good.




lunedì 30 luglio 2012

Murano Glass history

The castagnole

The castagnole



Introduction: 

Venice published the world's first book of gastronomy, De onesta voluptate et valetitudine, by Platina, opened the first coffee shop in the West - before any other European capital - and suggested the use of the fork, until then unknown and brought from Byzantium as part of the 'dowry' of the princess Teodora Ducas, wife of Doge Domenico Silvio.
Venice was long the home of spices, of wines made from raisins, of fish in sweet and sour sauce, and dried fish.
Over and above its contribution in turning simple cooking into a gastronomic art so refined as to adorn a Doge's table, Venice's traditional folk dishes should not be overlooked with their delicious offerings, many of which can still be found.
And seeing that it is Carnival time, we suggest a recipe for those popular little chestnut-shaped cakes, castagnole.




Ingredients: 

300 gr. of flour, half a teaspoon of baking soda,
60 gr. of castor sugar and likewise of butter,
2 eggs, half packet of dried yeast,
1 glass of rosolio cordial or of white grappa,
a pinch of salt,
grated untreated orange o lemon peel,
seed oil, icing-sugar.



Preparation: 

Add the eggs, sugar, salt, melted butter, and grappa to the flour and baking soda, and the yeast freshly diluted in water.
Mix by hand; roll the pastry, cut out the chestnut shapes and flatten slightly.
Cover and leave to rise for half an hour. Fry in plenty of oil, drain and leave to dry on absorbent kitchen paper, then sprinkle with icing-sugar. Serve hot.

domenica 29 luglio 2012

Pumpkin gnocchi and Montasio cream

Pumpkin gnocchi and Montasio cream


Gnocchi di zucca e crema di montasio





Ingredients: Ingredients for 8 persons:

For the gnocchi:
1 kg. of baked pumpkin(little dumplings)
300 gr. of flour
250 gr. of ricotta cheese
2 egg yolks
1 entire egg
butter, salt and pepper

For the fondue:
500 gr. of Montasio cheese
1/2 litre of milk
3 egg yolks
70 gr. of butter
80 gr. of flour
100 gr. of cream
For the fricandeau:
500 gr. of aged Montasio cheese
600 gr. of yellow cornmeal for polenta (mush)



Preparation: 

Put the pumpkin through a sieve, add it to the other ingredients; with the prepared dough, shape the gnocchi to the desired sizes.
Boil for about two minutes in salted water, drain and serve with the fondue sauce. For the fondue sauce, melt the butter in a little pot, add the flour and milk; boil until it has become a béchamel (white) sauce; remove from the flame, add the Montasio cheese cut into little cubes and mix until it melts; add the egg yolks with the cream, salt and a pinch of Cayenne pepper.
For the fricandeau, fold in the cornmeal and the Montasio cheese. Spread it out in a warmed non-stick frying pan and turn it over only twice.
When it is well-browned, and while it is still warm, shape it into the desired form. Garnish with flakes of aged Montasio cheese.

Preparation Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes, cooking time 10 minutes

venerdì 27 luglio 2012

Steamed sea bass with apples and balsamic vinegar


Steamed sea bass with apples and balsamic vinegar

Branzino al vapore con mele e aceto balsamico


Ingredients: 500ml. of dry white wine; 500ml. of water; salt; 8 large lettuce leaves; 4 sea bass fillets; freshly ground salt and pepper; 2 apples peeled and cut into segments; traditional balsamic vinegar from Modena, aged; extra virgin olive oil; fresh bay leaves.



Preparation: In a medium casserole dish, put the wine, water and salt. Bring to the boil. Add the lettuce leaves.
After a few seconds, remove them without breaking and put them in iced water.
Keep the cooking liquid.
Take the leaves out of the iced water, put them on a clean level surface and dry them carefully. Season the sea bass fillets with salt and pepper.
Place each one on a lettuce leaf, cover with another and fold the top leaf underneath the fillet. Fold the bottom leaf upwards to create a parcel.
Put a steamer basket over the liquid or transfer them into a steamer. Bring to moderate boil and place the parcels in the basket.
Cover and cook for 10 - 12 minutes.
During the last 5 minutes, add the apple segments.
Preparation of the plate
Place the apple segments in a circle at the center of the plate.
Arrange the fish, spray with balsamic vinegar and oil, garnish with bay leaves and serve immediately.

martedì 24 luglio 2012

VASE SOMMERSO green HIGH 11 inch



Description: This auction was referred to an item VASE SOMMERSO green HIGH 11 inch in MURANO GLASS by MORBIDEIDEE Venice, come with gift box, the object is made by hand and sometimes the color may be slightly different from photos.
Size: 25 Cm
Rating: Venice Souvenir
Code: Last piece

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venerdì 20 luglio 2012

Republic of Venice

The Republic of Venice (Italian: Repubblica di Venezia, Venetian: Repùblica Vèneta or Repùblica de Venesia) 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 (Italian: Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia, Venetian: Serenìsima Repùblica Vèneta or Repùblica de Venesia) and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in reference to its title as one of the "Most Serene Republics".
The Republic's modern reputation is widely based on its preference for economic supremacy over military might, despite its long history of war and conquest.


History of the Republic of Venice

The city of Venice originated as a collection of lagoon communities banded together for mutual defence from the Lombards, Huns and other invading peoples as the power of the Western Roman Empire dwindled in northern Italy.
At some point in the first decades of the eighth century, the people of the lagoon elected their first leader Ursus (or Orso Ipato), who was confirmed by Byzantium and given the titles of hypatus and dux. He was the first historical Doge of Venice.
Tradition, however, first attested in the early 11th century, states that the Venetians first proclaimed one Anafestus Paulicius duke in 697, though this story dates to no earlier than the chronicle of John the Deacon. Whichever the case, the first doges had their power base in Heraclea.



Rise

Ursus's successor, Deusdedit, moved his seat from Heraclea to Malamocco in the 740s. 
He was the son of Ursus and represented the attempt of his father to establish a dynasty. Such attempts were more than commonplace among the doges of the first few centuries of Venetian history, but all were ultimately unsuccessful. During the reign of Deusdedit, Venice became the only remaining Byzantine possession in the north and the changing politics of the Frankish Empire began to change the factional divisions within Venetia. 
One faction was decidedly pro-Byzantine. They desired to remain well-connected to the Empire. Another faction, republican in nature, believed in continuing along a course towards practical independence. The other main faction was pro-Frankish. 
Supported mostly by clergy (in line with papal sympathies of the time), they looked towards the new Carolingian king of the Franks, Pepin the Short, as the best provider of defence against the Lombards. 
A minor, pro-Lombard, faction was opposed to close ties with any of these further-off powers and interested in maintaining peace with the neighbouring (and surrounding, but for the sea) Lombard kingdom.

Map of the Venetian Republic, circa 1000




Early Middle Ages

The successors of Obelerio inherited a united Venice. By the Pax Nicephori (803) the two emperors had recognised Venetian de facto independence, while it remained nominally Byzantine in subservience. During the reign of the Participazio family, Venice grew into its modern form. Though Heraclean by birth, Agnello, the first Participazio doge, was an early immigrant to Rialto and his dogeship was marked by the expansion of Venice towards the sea via the construction of bridges, canals, bulwarks, fortifications, and stone buildings.
The modern Venice, at one with the sea, was being born. Agnello was succeeded by his son Giustiniano, who stole the remains of Saint Mark the Evangelist from Alexandria, took them to Venice, and made him the Republic's patron saint.
During the reign of the successor of the Participazio, Pietro Tradonico, Venice began to establish its military might which would influence many a later crusade and dominate the Adriatic for centuries. Tradonico secured the sea by fighting Slavic and Saracen pirates.
Tradonico's reign was long and successful (837–64), but he was succeeded by the Participazio and it appeared that a dynasty may have finally been established. Around 841, the Republic of Venice sent a fleet of 60 galleys (each carrying 200 men) to assist the Byzantines in driving the Arabs from Crotone, but it failed.[1] In 1000, Pietro II Orseolo sent a fleet of 6 ships to defeat the Narentine and Croatian pirates from Dalmatia.

Horses of Saint Mark, brought as loot from Constantinople in 1204.


High Middle Ages

In the High Middle Ages, Venice became extremely wealthy through its control of trade between Europe and the Levant, and began to expand into the Adriatic Sea and beyond. In 1084, Domenico Selvo personally led a fleet against the Normans, but he was defeated and lost 9 great galleys, the largest and most heavily armed ships in the Venetian war fleet.
Venice was involved in the Crusades almost from the very beginning; 200 Venetian ships assisted in capturing the coastal cities of Syria after the First Crusade, and in 1123 they were granted virtual autonomy in the Kingdom of Jerusalem through the Pactum Warmundi.
In 1110, Ordelafo Faliero personally commanded a Venetian fleet of 100 ships to assist Baldwin I of Jerusalem and Sigurd I of Norway in capturing the city of Sidon.
In the 12th century, the Venetians also gained extensive trading privileges in the Byzantine Empire and their ships often provided the Empire with a navy.
In 1182, there was a vicious anti-Western riot in Constantinople, of which the Latins were the targets, the Venetians in particular. Many in the Empire had become jealous of Venetian power and influence, and thus, when in 1182 the pretender Andronikos I Komnenos marched on Constantinople, Venetian property was seized and the owners imprisoned or banished, an act which humiliated and angered the Republic. The Venetian fleet was crucial to the transportation of the Fourth Crusade, but when the crusaders could not pay for the ships, the cunning and manipulative Doge Enrico Dandolo quickly exploited the situation and offered transport to the crusaders if they were to capture the (Christian) Dalmatian city of Zara (Croatian: Zadar), which had rebelled against the Venetian rule in 1183, placed itself under the dual protection of the Papacy and King Emeric of Hungary and had proven too well fortified[citation needed] to retake for Venice alone, because 90% of the shipowners had changed the opinion of Enrico Dandolo .
Upon accomplishing this, the crusade was again diverted to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, another rival of Venice, in order to avenge the 1182 massacre of Venetian citizens living in Constantinople. The Dalmatians separated from Hungary by a treaty in 1199 and they paid Hungary with a portion of Macedonia (theme). 
In 1201 the city of Zadar, formerly under the protection of the Republic of Venice, recognized Emeric, King of Hungary, again as overlord, perhaps because he could not realize Hungary's portion on Macedonia (theme).
When Macedonia (theme) became disputed between the Crusaders and the Bulgarian Empire in 1204, Constantinople was captured and sacked by the Crusaders. 
The sack of that city has been described as one of the most profitable and disgraceful sacks of a city in history.
The Republic of Venice signed a trade treaty with the Mongol Empire in 1221.
Koloman of Croatia counted 77 judges in Dalmatia in 1235 and wrote their names.
The Byzantine Empire, which until 1204 had resisted several attacks and kept the Islamic invaders out of Western Anatolia and the Balkans, was re-established in 1261 by Michael VIII Palaiologos but never recovered its previous power and was eventually conquered by the Ottoman Turks, who later occupied the Balkans and Hungary and on two occasions even besieged Vienna.
The Venetians, who accompanied the crusader fleet, claimed much of the plunder, including the famous four bronze horses which were brought back to adorn St. Mark's basilica. 
As a result of the subsequent partition of the Byzantine Empire, Venice gained a great deal of territory in the Aegean Sea (three-eighths of the Byzantine Empire), including the islands of Crete (Candia) and Euboea (Negroponte); for example, the present core city of Chania on Crete is largely of Venetian construction, built atop the ruins of the ancient city of Cydonia.
The Aegean islands came to form the Venetian Duchy of the Archipelago.
In 1295, Pietro Gradenigo sent a fleet of 68 ships to attack a Genoese fleet at Alexandretta, then another fleet of 100 ships were sent to attack the Genoese in 1299.
From 1350 to 1381, Venice fought an intermittent war with the Genoese. Initially defeated, they devastated the Genoese fleet at the Battle of Chioggia in 1380 and retained their prominent position in eastern Mediterranean affairs at the expense of Genoa's declining empire.



Territories of the Republic of Venice: in dark red the territories conquered at the start of the 15th century, in red the territories at the start of 16th century, in pink the territories conquered temporarily, in yellow the sea dominated by Venetian fleet during the 15th century, in orange the main routes, purple squares are the main emporiums and commercial colonies.



15th century

In the early fifteenth century, the Venetians also began to expand in Italy, as well as along the Dalmatian coast from Istria to Albania, which was acquired from King Ladislaus of Naples during the civil war in Hungary.
Ladislaus was about to lose the conflict and had decided to escape to Naples, but before doing so he agreed to sell his now practically forfeit rights on the Dalmatian cities for a meager sum of 100,000 ducats.
Venice exploited the situation and quickly installed nobility to govern the area, for example, Count Filippo Stipanov in Zadar.
This move by the Venetians was a response to the threatening expansion of Giangaleazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan. Control over the north-east main land routes was also a necessity for the safety of the trades. By 1410, Venice had a navy of 3,300 ships (manned by 36,000 men) and taken over most of Venetia, including such important cities as Verona (which swore its loyalty in the Devotion of Verona to Venice in 1405) and Padua.
The situation in Dalmatia had been settled in 1408 by a truce with King Sigismund of Hungary but the difficulties of Hungary finally granted to the Republic the consolidation of its Adriatic dominions. At the expiration of the truce, Venice immediately invaded the Patriarchate of Aquileia, and subjected Traù, Spalato, Durazzo and other Dalmatian cities.
Slaves were plentiful in the Italian city-states as late as the 15th century. Between 1414 and 1423, some 10,000 slaves were sold in Venice, almost all of whom were "nubile" young women from the Balkans.
In February 1489, the island of Cyprus, previously a crusader state (the Kingdom of Cyprus), was annexed to Venice.

Venetian possessions in Greece, 1450.


League of Cambrai, the loss of Cyprus and Battle of Lepanto

The Ottoman Empire started sea campaigns as early as 1423, when it waged a seven year war with the Venetian Republic over maritime control of the Aegean Sea and the Adriatic Sea. 
The wars with Venice resumed in 1463 until a favorable peace treaty was signed in 1479 just after the troublesome siege of Shkodra. In 1480, (now no longer hampered by the Venetian fleet) the Ottomans besieged Rhodes and captured Otranto. By 1490, the population of Venice had risen to about 180,000 people.
War with the Ottomans resumed from 1499 to 1503. In 1499, Venice allied itself with Louis XII of France against Milan, gaining Cremona. In the same year, the Ottoman sultan moved to attack Lepanto by land, and sent a large fleet to support his offensive by sea. Antonio Grimani, more a businessman and diplomat than a sailor, was defeated in the sea battle of Zonchio in 1499. 
The Turks once again sacked Friuli. Preferring peace to total war both against the Turks and by sea, Venice surrendered the bases of Lepanto, Durazzo, Modon and Coron.
Venice's attention was diverted from its usual maritime position by the delicate situation in Romagna, then one of the richest lands in Italy, which was nominally part of the Papal States but effectively divided into a series of small lordships which were difficult for Rome's troops to control. Eager to take some of Venice's lands, all neighbouring powers joined in the League of Cambrai in 1508, under the leadership of Pope Julius II. The pope wanted Romagna; Emperor Maximilian I: Friuli and Veneto; Spain: the Apulian ports; the king of France: Cremona; the king of Hungary: Dalmatia, and each of the others some part. 
The offensive against the huge army enlisted by Venice was launched from France.
On 14 May 1509, Venice was crushingly defeated at the battle of Agnadello, in the Ghiara d'Adda, marking one of the most delicate points in Venetian history. French and imperial troops were occupying Veneto, but Venice managed to extricate itself through diplomatic efforts. 
The Apulian ports were ceded in order to come to terms with Spain, and pope Julius II soon recognized the danger brought by the eventual destruction of Venice (then the only Italian power able to face kingdoms like France or empires like the Ottomans).
The citizens of the mainland rose to the cry of "Marco, Marco", and Andrea Gritti recaptured Padua in July 1509, successfully defending it against the besieging imperial troops. 
Spain and the pope broke off their alliance with France, and Venice regained Brescia and Verona from France also. 
After seven years of ruinous war, the Serenissima regained its mainland dominions west to the Adda river. Although the defeat had turned into a victory, the events of 1509 marked the end of the Venetian expansion.
In 1489, the first year of Venetian control of Cyprus, Turks attacked the Karpasia Peninsula, pillaging and taking captives to be sold into slavery. 
In 1539 the Turkish fleet attacked and destroyed Limassol. Fearing the ever-expanding Ottoman Empire, the Venetians had fortified Famagusta, Nicosia, and Kyrenia, but most other cities were easy prey. By 1563, the population of Venice had dropped to about 168,000 people.
In the summer of 1570, the Turks struck again, but this time with a full-scale invasion rather than a raid. About 60,000 troops, including cavalry and artillery, under the command of Mustafa Pasha landed unopposed near Limassol on July 2, 1570, and laid siege to Nicosia. 
In an orgy of victory on the day that the city fell — September 9, 1570 — 20,000 Nicosians were put to death, and every church, public building, and palace was looted.[14] Word of the massacre spread, and a few days later Mustafa took Kyrenia without having to fire a shot. 
Famagusta, however, resisted and put up a heroic defense that lasted from September 1570 until August 1571.
The fall of Famagusta marked the beginning of the Ottoman period in Cyprus. Two months later, the naval forces of the Holy League, composed mainly of Venetian, Spanish, and Papal ships under the command of Don John of Austria, defeated the Turkish fleet at Battle of Lepanto. 
The victory over the Turks, however, came too late to help Cyprus, and the island remained under Ottoman rule for the next three centuries. By 1575, the population of Venice was about 175,000 people, but partly as a result of the plague of 1575-76 dropped to 124,000 people by 1581.

Venetian fort in Nafplion, Greece. 
This is one of the many forts that secured the Venetian trade routes in the Eastern Mediterranean.




17th century

In 1606, a conflict between Venice and the Holy See began with the arrest of two clerics accused of petty crimes, and with a law restricting the Church's right to enjoy and acquire landed property.
Pope Paul V held that these provisions were contrary to canon law, and demanded that they be repealed. When this was refused, he placed Venice under an interdict.
The Republic paid no attention to the interdict or the act of excommunication, and ordered its priests to carry out their ministry.
It was supported in its decisions by the Servite monk Paolo Sarpi, a sharp polemical writer who was nominated to be the Signoria's adviser on theology and canon law in 1606.
The interdict was lifted after a year, when France intervened and proposed a formula of compromise.
Venice was satisfied with reaffirming the principle that no citizen was superior to the normal processes of law.
The latter half of the 17th century saw also prolonged wars with the Ottoman Empire: in the Cretan War (1645–1669), after a heroic siege that lasted 24 years, Venice lost its major overseas possession, the island of Crete, while it made some advances in Dalmatia.
In 1684 however, taking advantage of the Ottoman involvement against Austria in the Great Turkish War, the Republic initiated the Morean War, which lasted until 1699 and in which it was able to conquer the Morea peninsula in southern Greece.

Procession in St.Mark's Square by Gentile Bellini, 1496.



Decline

Giovan Battista Tiepolo's Neptune offers the wealth of the sea to Venice, 1748–50. This painting is an allegory of the power of the Republic of Venice, as the wealth and power of the Serenissima was based on the control of the sea.
These gains were not meant to last, however: in December 1714, the Turks began the last Turkish–Venetian War, when the Morea was "without any of those supplies which are so desirable even in countries where aid is near at hand which are not liable to attack from the sea".
The Turks took the islands of Tinos and Aegina, crossed the isthmus and took Corinth. Daniele Dolfin, commander of the Venetian fleet, thought it better to save the fleet than risk it for the Morea. When he eventually arrived on the scene, Nauplia, Modon, Corone and Malvasia had fallen. Levkas in the Ionian islands, and the bases of Spinalonga and Suda on Crete which still remained in Venetian hands, were abandoned. The Turks finally landed on Corfù, but its defenders managed to throw them back.
In the meantime, the Turks had suffered a grave defeat by the Austrians in the Battle of Petrovaradin on 5 August 1716. Venetian naval efforts in the Aegean and the Dardanelles in 1717 and 1718, however, met with little success. With the Treaty of Passarowitz (21 July 1718), Austria made large territorial gains, but Venice lost the Morea, for which its small gains in Albania and Dalmatia were little compensation. This was the last war with the Ottoman Empire. By the year 1792, the once great Venetian merchant fleet had declined to a mere 309 merchantmen.

Giovan Battista Tiepolo's Neptune offers the wealth of the sea to Venice, 1748–50. This painting is an allegory of the power of the Republic of Venice, as the wealth and power of the Serenissima was based on the control of the sea.



Fall

By 1796, the Republic of Venice could no longer defend itself since its war fleet numbered only four galleys and seven galliots.
In spring 1796, Piedmont fell and the Austrians were beaten from Montenotte to Lodi. The army under Bonaparte crossed the frontiers of neutral Venice in pursuit of the enemy. By the end of the year the French troops were occupying the Venetian state up to the Adige. Vicenza, Cadore and Friuli were held by the Austrians.
With the campaigns of the next year, Napoleon aimed for the Austrian possessions across the Alps. In the preliminaries to the Peace of Leoben, the terms of which remained secret, the Austrians were to take the Venetian possessions in the Balkans as the price of peace (18 April 1797), while France required the Lombard part of the State.
After Napoleon's ultimatum, Doge Ludovico Manin surrendered unconditionally on May 12, and abdicated himself, while the Major Council declared the end of the Republic. According to Bonaparte's orders, the public powers passed to a Provisional Municipality under the French Military Governor. On October 17, France and Austria signed the Treaty of Campo Formio, according the sharing of all the territory of the ancient republic, with a new border just west of the Adige River. Italian democrats, especially young poet Ugo Foscolo, viewed the treaty as a betrayal. The metropolitan part of the disbanded republic became an Austrian territory, under the name of Venetian Province (Provincia Veneta in Italian, Venedig Provinz in German).

Anachronistic map of the Republic of Venice.




Present day use of the Winged Lion

The winged Lion of St. Mark, which had appeared on the Republic's Flag and Coat of Arms, survives in the red-yellow flag of the city of Venice (which has six tails, one for each sestier of the city), in the coat of arms of the city and in the yellow-red-blue flag of Veneto (which has seven tails representing the seven provinces of the region).
The winged Lion also appears in the Navy flag of the Italian Republic together with other 3 ancient flags (Genoa, Pisa and Amalfi), as well as the Golden Lion, awarded at the Venice Film Festival, and in the insignia of the large Assicurazioni Generali insurance company.

The hearing given by the Doge in the Sala del Collegio in Doge's Palace by Francesco Guardi, 1775-80.



Government

The hearing given by the Doge in the Sala del Collegio in Doge's Palace by Francesco Guardi, 1775-80.
In the early years of the republic, the Doge ruled Venice in an autocratic fashion, but later his powers were limited by the promissione, a pledge he had to take when elected. As a result, powers were shared with the Maggior Consiglio or Great Council, composed of 480 members taken from patrician families, so that "He could do nothing without the Major Council and the Major Council could do nothing without him".
In the 12th century, the aristocratic families of Rialto further diminished the Doge's powers by establishing the Minor Council (1175), composed of six advisers of the Doge, and the Quarantia (1179) as a supreme tribunal. In 1223, these institutions were combined into the Signoria, which consisted of the Doge, the Minor Council and the three leaders of the Quarantia.
The Signoria was the central body of government, representing the continuity of the republic as shown in the expression: "si è morto il Doge, no la Signoria" ("The Doge is dead, but the Signoria is not").
Also created were the sapientes, two (later six) bodies that combined with other groups to form a collegio, which formed an executive branch.
In 1229, the Consiglio dei Pregadi, a senate, was formed, being 60 members elected by the Major Council.
These developments left the Doge with little personal power and saw actual authority in the hands of the Major Council.
Whilst Venice claimed to be a "Republic", in reality it followed a mixed government model, combining monarchy in the Doge, aristocracy in the senate, and a "democracy" of Rialto families in the Major Council.
Machiavelli also refers to Venice as a republic, considering it "excellent among modern republics" (unlike his native Florence).
In 1310, a Council of Ten was established, becoming the central political body whose members operated in secret.
Around 1600, its dominance over the Major Council was considered a threat and efforts were made in the Council and elsewhere to reduce its powers, with limited success.
In 1454, the Supreme Tribunal of the three state inquisitors was established to guard the security of the republic.
By means of espionage, counterespionage, internal surveillance and a network of informers, they ensured that Venice did not come under the rule of a single "signore", as many other Italian cities did at the time. One of the inquisitors - popularly known as Il Rosso ("the red one") because of his scarlet robe - was chosen from the Doge's councillors, two – popularly known as I negri ("the black ones") because of their black robes – were chosen from the Council of Ten. The Supreme Tribunal gradually assumed some of the powers of the Council of Ten.
In 1556, the provveditori ai beni inculti were also created for the improvement of agriculture by increasing the area under cultivation and encouraging private investment in agricultural improvement. The consistent rise in the price of grain during the 16th century encouraged the transfer of capital from trade to the land.

Venice's governmental structure.