Renaissance marriage is a much-studied subject, yet little attention has been given to the influence of marital practice on the civic affairs of confraternities. By considering the decisions of the Venetian Scuola dei Mercanti confraternity through the lens of Venetian marriage practice, I demonstrate how the Mercanti employed a multi-alignment advancement strategy in a manner similar to that employed by marriage partners seeking upward social mobility. Specifically, I argue that the Mercanti’s maneuvers were carried out for the purpose of transforming itself from a scuola piccolo to a scuola grande. Viewed from this perspective, the Mercanti’s artistic and architectural commissions appear as carefully executed maneuvers designed to elevate its social status. To demonstrate this thesis, I outline the Mercanti’s strategy of aligning with the neighboring Madonna dell’Orto church, the prominent architect Palladio and, especially, the older, established Scuola Grande della Misericordia.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Zürich, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references and index.

This dissertation is an economic and institutional history of the first comprehensive public health and welfare system in the Western world. Based on previously unexamined archival and archaeological evidence from several European repositories, it argues that the Republic of Venice, at the beginning of the second millennium, implemented legislation of unprecedented scale, intended to regulate and improve the health and standards of living of its population. The Venetian empire, in this period, was unrivaled in its dominance of Mediterranean trade. Economic success and the densifying networks of communications brought new challenges, and new health stresses, including communicable disease, to key commercial hubs under Venetian control, on the Dalmatian coast and islands in the eastern Mediterranean. At this time, a period commonly known as the Commercial Revolution, Venice itself became one of the most populous and wealthiest European cities. The government of the Republic allocated a substantial portion of its surplus revenues to the establishment and funding of new welfare legislation, influenced by Roman and Byzantine legal precedents. The nature of the Venetian parliamentary system gave rise to a host of detailed norms aimed at subsidizing the import of food and primary necessities. In addition, the Republic created and funded the first and largest state-sponsored staff of medical practitioners in Europe, intended to preserve the public's health in the expansive territories under its control. These practitioners were chosen, by and large, on the basis of testimonies of magistrates and patients who vouched for their expertise and reputation. Through a detailed analysis of archival, archaeological and narrative evidence, this dissertation alters our understanding of the development of pre-modern states and their contribution to the creation of what historians have broadly defined "welfare policies." Comparisons between the prices of primary necessities among multiple cities of the Mediterranean test the effects of such policies on the standards of living of European populations. A comprehensive list of all public health infrastructures in Venetian territories outlines the long-term role of the state in the creation and funding of hospitals, hospices and orphanages. By contextualizing new and old evidence, this dissertation argues that, in crafting these new policies, Venetian legislators yielded to economic and political considerations, as well as popular expectations and traditions of evergetism. / History

This thesis discusses the theme of homosexuality presented in The Immoralist (1902) by André Gide and in Death in Venice (1912) by Thomas Mann. Evidence of homosexuality in the texts is substantiated in detail and the way in which the theme is approached, including how it fits into the structure of the narratives, is also examined. Given that these texts are quite complex, the resounding message of this theme can only be assessed through consideration of the novellas as whole works of art. Thus, the other major themes from each text are reviewed prior to reaching conclusions about the ‘intended’ message behind each work. This thesis proposes that The Immoralist centres on the search for the authentic self, while Death in Venice concerns the downfall of the artist from the height of dignity and fame. The role of homosexuality as a theme is gauged as it relates to these interpretations.

Exploring Urban Spaces in the Young Imagination makes the case for taking seriously children's and young adult fiction as a topic worthy of scholarly analysis beyond a purely didactic focus. The recent explosion of interest in this literature among adult readers and the blurring of boundaries between adult and youth media demonstrate that it has become a powerful influence on popular culture and has captured the collective imagination. As the future inhabitants of urban spaces, paying close attention to children’s and youth perspectives can provide fresh lenses, with which to view the cultural construction of cityscapes. This dissertation examines post-millennium children’s and YA fiction and film. Drawing on theories of the spatial turn, my research provides five case studies on a variety of topics related to the contemporary metropolis – ranging from cognitive disability to environmental concerns. Specifically, it pays close attention to the inherent connections between the developing perceptions of metropolises and the various protagonists’ processes of identity formation. Beginning with Berlin, as portrayed in Andreas Steinhöfel’s popular Rico-und-Oskar-trilogy, my analysis explores the protagonist’s shifting perceptions of his urban surroundings while overcoming the limitations of his learning disability. Furthermore, my research shows how Steinhöfel’s Der mechanische Prinz utilizes the cityscape as a mirror for the protagonist’s psyche and how his knowledge of the Berlin subway system contributes to his self-healing. In contrast, China Miéville’s Un Lun Dun explores the ecocritical implications of London’s urban ‘other’, UnLondon. Katherine Marsh’s The Night Tourist and its sequel The Twilight Tourist illustrate the literary construction of New York City as a ‘mediascape’ and modern myth. Finally, I focus on alternative family structures and their connection to urban spaces, specifically Venice in Cornelia Funke’s Herr der Diebe, and Paris in Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret. The study concludes with an examination of these novels’ filmic versions and their respective romanticisations of Venice and Paris. The dissertation contributes to the fields of child and youth studies and urban geographies by exposing the manifold symbiotic constructions of cityscapes and youth in post-2000 children’s and YA fiction that shape identities and spaces alike. / Thesis (Ph.D, German) -- Queen's University, 2012-09-02 16:56:36.507

By studying several paintings by Venetian artist Tiziano Vicelio, better known as Titian, this thesis explores how the Venetian painter’s works resisted the encroaching arrival of a masculine identity and reflected on the ramifications inherent in its performance. I will provide evidence that the contemporary discourses and/or criticisms of artistic production that informed Titian’s style allow us to situate his feminized male within both the historical framework of sixteenth-century Venice, and the delicate negotiation of gender that was taking place at the same time. This thesis also situates Titian’s works within contemporary literary acknowledgements about the fluidity of gender. I will begin by examining Titian’s painting of David and Goliath in the church of Santo Spirito in Venice, as a prelude to my main analysis of the whole cycle. Next I will study his painting of Tarquin and Lucretia, concluding with an evaluation of his enigmatic Il Bravo. I will argue that, using the metaphorical power of contrast in his paintings Titian was highlighting the violent nature of masculinity and the tragic consequences of its performance, while simultaneously offering the image of the feminized male as an exemplar.

Just below the surface of A la recherche du temps perdu by Marcel Proust, a theme is slightly distinguishable. As the work progresses, this theme becomes omnipresent, in the narrator under the guise of a wish; this theme is travel. / At first glance, it is the very movement of travelling (real and imaginary) which propels the text. Although all Proustian characters travel, the richness of this theme is most eloquently expressed in Marcel. For this character, travelling takes on many forms: dreamed, accomplished, and written; it becomes at once real and mythic. / It has often been said that the Recherche told the story of a literary career. Given this, it seems that the search for writing is an integral part of this narrative of travel. Let us say that the very construction of the story, which is more related to the imaginary than to a real description of Venice, emphasizes the transition of reading to writing. It is this passage we wish to illustrate in this master's thesis; for Marcel, the act of reading is intimately connected to his desire of travel.

Original contribution. A discussion of Carlo Lodoli's bi-fold understanding of indole (inherent nature); with respect to both meaning in architecture and the education of architects. / Carlo Lodoli (1690--1761) exists as a footnote in most major history books of modern architecture. He is typically noted for either his influence on the Venetian Neoclassical tradition or as an early prophet to some sort of functionalism. Though I would not argue his influence, I doubt his role in the development of a structurally determined functionalism. The issue of influence is always present as very little of his writings have survived and his built work amounts to a few windowsills. He did, however, teach architecture. I propose to explore the pedagogic potential of Lodoli's lessons of architecture. / Lodoli's teaching approach was not necessarily professional in that he did not instruct his students in the methods of drawing or construction techniques. Rather, his approach was dialogical. The topics were sweeping, often ethical, and ranged from the nature of truth to the nature of materials. Existing scholarship pertaining to Lodoli most often focuses upon his students' production of texts, projects, and projections. Andrea Memmo's Elementi dell'Architettura Lodoliana (1786, 1833) and Francesco Algarotti's Saggio sopra l'architettura (1756) are both specifically named by the respective authors as advancing Lodoli's architectural theories. Often overlooked are the apologues, or fables, used by Lodoli in lessons to his students. The main source for these fables is the Apologhi Immaginati (1787). Others were included in Memmo's Elementi. Apologues from both sources have been translated for the first time into English and can be found in Appendix I of the dissertation. / I look specifically to these stories to understand and illustrate Lodoli's approach to making, teaching and thinking. This is understood through Lodoli's characterisation of the identity of materials and of the self. Within this dissertation I intend to flesh out the textual and architectural fabric surrounding the pedagogic activities of the Venetian Friar known as the Socrates of Architecture, Carlo Lodoli.

This study aims to discuss the generative possibilities of reading architectural form by focusing on selected interpretations of the Venice Hospital project by Le Corbusier. By presenting complementary and competing readings of the project, it examines different design strategies in the formal organization of the Venice Hospital. It shows that the Venice Hospital project, displaying the characteristics of both a &ldquo / field&rdquo / organization and a well-articulated object, demands a reconsideration of the occasionally overstated distinction between them. First, it introduces interpretations of the Venice Hospital as a field and/or mat-building phenomenon, which emphasize its relevance as a precedent for contemporary formal explorations. The complexity of the Venice Hospital project requires appealing to other reading strategies as well. Based on the discussion initiated by Colin Rowe and Fred Koetter in &ldquo / The Crisis of the Object: The Predicament of Texture,&rdquo / and owing to Alan Colquhoun&rsquo / s analysis of the project&rsquo / s geometrical system in &ldquo / Formal and Functional Interactions,&rdquo / this study proceeds by exploring the way the Venice Hospital becomes &ldquo / an object performing like a texture.&rdquo / It attempts to decipher Colquhoun&rsquo / s remarks and his diagrams concerning the geometrical system through the technique of the &ldquo / plan analysis&rdquo / introduced by Klaus-Peter Gast. The Venice Hospital project is also studied as an example of transparent spatial organization, in light of the conceptual framework developed by Colin Rowe and Robert Slutzky in their &ldquo / Transparency&rdquo / articles. Starting from these interpretations of the Venice Hospital project, this study aims at bringing into discussion the nature of the devices or techniques of formal organization that can mediate between architecture and urbanism. These devices are examined in light of the framework constituted by the concepts of &ldquo / device&rdquo / and &ldquo / material,&rdquo / elucidated by the Russian Formalists. The &ldquo / device and material relationship&rdquo / that was invoked in the formalist tradition of literary criticism, is reformulated for the field of architecture, and it is discussed with its capacity to initiate generative and inclusive interpretations of works of architecture as precedents.

Thesis (doctoral)--Schlesische Friedrich-Wilhems-Universität zu Breslau, 1933. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.