13th century: The Serrata, silk, spices and slavery

A medieval manuscript of the Loredan family.

The Loredan family has been occupying hereditary seats on the Great Council since the Great Council Lockout (Serrata del Maggior Consiglio) of 1297, by which the membership in the Great Council of Venice became a hereditary title, and was limited to the families inscribed in the Golden Book of the Venetian nobility.^[16] This resulted in the exclusion of minor aristocrats and plebeians from participating in the Government of the Republic.^[17][d]

Like many Venetian patricians, the Loredans participated in the lucrative silk and spice trade, thus growing their wealth and influence,^[18] with Venice and other maritime republics monopolising European trade with the Middle East. The family also participated in the medieval slave trade,^[18] with Venice already having established slave trading operations centuries prior.^[g]

Around this time, documents from the 1290s show that two Loredans, Zanetto and Zorzi, were being sued by Christian merchants from Amalfi, presumably for involvement in piracy activities, as they had seized a vessel of the coast of Malta.^[19]

14th century: Conspiracies and expansion of trade

Some members of the family played a part in the bloody Tiepoline conspiracy of 1310, which involved the Querini, Badoer and other families of the old aristocracy, in an attempt to overthrow the state, primarily the doge and the Great Council. Evidence indicates the Loredans initially supported the conspiracy, having recently married into the Tiepolo family.^[20] The plot failed due to treachery, bad planning, insufficient popular support and stormy weather. The rebels were stopped near Piazza San Marco by forces faithful to Doge Pietro Gradenigo and defeated. On the night before the uprising, particulars of the plot were unveiled to the doge and his advisors; the Loredans who were involved in the conspiracy passed cunningly to the other side, and to show their loyalty to the doge, they hounded the involved conspirators until they were found.^[19]

The Loredans are characterised by many interesting things and stories, one of which took place in the early 14th century: In 1316, Zanotto Loredan was seriously ill, so much so that it was thought he was dead, so the people took him to the church of San Matteo in Murano for burial. After the funeral rite, they wanted to deposit the body in the tomb, when someone noticed that the color of his face had changed. They took him to the convent hospital, warmed him and he recovered. Later he continued to live normally, married and had children.^[21][22]

On the influence exerted by the travels of the Marco Polo, new documents have come to light from archival research. From these it is noted that, starting as early as the 1320s, Venetian merchants flocked to Persia (where from 1324 Venice had its own consul in Tabriz), India and China, where they formed trade companies.^[23] Head of one of these companies was Giovanni Loredan, whose venture along with five other nobles is a representative example of a commenda, known in Venice as colleganza, an early form of limited partnership, which implied an agreement between an investing partner and a travelling partner to conduct a commercial enterprise, usually overseas. Their journey began in 1338 when they sailed on the galleys of Romania to Tana in order to embark upon a voyage to Delhi. Following the travels of the Polos, a number of Venetians travelled across Central Asia to China. However, striking out east from Tana and then heading south around the edge of the Pamir mountains to cross the Hindu Kush mountains to India had not been done before; it was trying something new. Before this, Giovanni Loredan had just come back from a trip to China, and his wife and children therefore tried to dissuade him from the new voyage. However, Giovanni believed that there was a fortune to be made by a visit to a certain Indian prince, who had a reputation for cruelty but also generosity to foreign merchants.^[24] Therefore, Giovanni, along with five other nobles who had joined in the venture, including his brother Paolo, pooled funds together in order to bring with them gifts, mechanical wonders such as a clock and a fountain, which they hoped would please the Indian prince. Each of them also took some wares on their own account, with Giovanni Loredan taking some Florentine cloth, a piece of which he sold along the way to pay for expenses. In order to raise his share of the needed funds, Giovanni also accepted money in the colleganza from his father-in-law, Alberto Calli, who invested 6 ducats. Having made their way to Delhi, Giovanni and the other nobles succeeded in pleasing the Indian prince, as he gave them a rich present, which they then invested in a joint purchase of pearls. However, the journey turned out tragically, as Giovanni and two other nobles died in the course of the journey.^[25] Giovanni's brother Paolo assumed his dead brother's obligations and continued the journey. On the way home, the pearls were divided among the surviving partners, but Giovanni was not there to make the most of the outcome that he had imagined before the voyage. After the nobles returned home to Venice, Giovanni's father-in-law, an early investor in the colleganza, sued the guardians of Giovanni's young sons to recover not only the value of his investment, but also the usual profits from such a voyage.^[26] Despite winning the case, he was almost certainly disappointed when he did not even double his initial investment in what had been projected to be a highly lucrative enterprise. The voyage of the Loredan brothers is one of the most popular anecdotes used by historians to depict the burgeoning of a global economy during that time.^[27]

One of the most notorious usurers of the time was Leonardo Loredan (d. 1349), borrowing at interest rates of 65% to 100%.^[20] His representatives did not hesitate to put families out of their homes, he battened on war loans, and was arraigned by ecclesiastical courts to answer to charges of aggravated usury, but he always managed to confute the charges by means of gifts, bribery and occult levers.^[19] Later, much of his wealth went into building two Loredan palaces in the city.^[19]

Tomb of Paolo Loredan (d.~1372), Basilica of Saints John and Paul

After the infamous failed 1355 Faliero coup that involved Doge Marino Faliero and his partners, including Filippo Calendario, which attempted to overthrow the republican government and establish a dictatorship, Andrea and Daniele Loredan managed to produce a testimony against Faliero, regarding his secret plots against the ruling class, after which they manipulated the Council of Ten and then led the call for his brutal torture.^[20] On the night of 17 April 1355, over the space of a few hours, they had Faliero questioned, framed, tortured and beheaded. Additionally, ten of his accomplices were hanged on display from the balcony of the Doge's Palace.^[19]

Marco Loredan, who lived in the 14th century was elected as Procurator of Saint Mark, one of the highest political positions in the Venetian Republic, and was one of the electors of Doge Andrea Dandolo. Contemporary to him are Paolo Loredan (d. 1372), a military general who distinguished himself in the highest military positions of land and sea, and Alvise Loredan, who also became Procurator of Saint Mark.^[7]

Giovanni Loredan (lat. Ioannes Lauredanus) served as the Bishop of Capo d'Istria (today Koper, Slovenia) from 1390 until his death on 11 April 1411.^[28] From 1354 he was the presbyter of Saint Mark's Basilica, Venice. He was appointed Bishop of Capo d'Istria on 21 November 1390.^[28] According to several church chronologies, before that he was also a bishop in Venice, in what was then the Diocese of Castello. It is recorded that in 1391 he dedicated the Church of St. George in Piran. He was buried in the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Koper.^[28] In some historical sources he is mentioned under the name of Giacomo or the Slovenian Jakob.^[29]

15th century: Political and military rise

One of the important members of the family in the 15th century was Pietro Loredan (1372-1438), who was three times Captain General of the Sea;^[30] in 1416 he conquered several Dalmatian strongholds and later defeated the Ottomans at Gallipoli, capturing fifteen galleys; in 1431 he defeated the Genoese and Milanese in Rapallo, achieving the capture of eight galleys and General Francesco Spinola. Pietro died in 1439.^[31] He was buried in the Monastery of St. Helena, and the funeral inscription explicitly indicates poisoning as the cause of his death.^[32] Many historians identify the principal to be his long-time rival, Doge Francesco Foscari, whose enmity with the deceased Pietro was well-known.^[33] In the popular imagination, the names of the Foscari and Loredan remain linked to a sort of generational feud, partly documented, partly due to certain historiographic forcing; and yet it is undeniable how, in the crucial moments that marked the life of Francesco and his son Jacopo Foscari, a Loredan was always present.^[34]

Loredan's letter following the Battle of Gallipoli and addressed to the Doge of Venice has been preserved:

Pietro's son Giacomo Loredan was a general who served as Captain of the Gulf and three times as Captain General of the Sea in the Venetian Navy.^[35] He defeated the Ottomans in 1464.^[9]

Also significant at this time was Alvise Loredan (1393-1466), who became a galley captain at a young age and served with distinction as a military commander, with a long record of battles against the Ottomans, from the naval expeditions to aid Thessalonica, to the Crusade of Varna, and the opening stages of the Ottoman-Venetian war, as well as the Wars in Lombardy against the Duchy of Milan.^[36] The Loredans were proponents of Venice's traditional, maritime orientation, and viewed with distrust its expansion on the Italian mainland (the Terraferma), which had brought it into conflict with Milan. Alvise Loredan shared this view, as can be seen from a proposal he brought before the Great Council in February 1442, ordering the governors of Bergamo to demolish its fortifications as a sign of goodwill and trust towards Visconti, following the conclusion of peace with Milan at the Treaty of Cremona.^[11] He also served in a number of high government positions, as provincial governor, Savio del Consiglio, and Procuratore de Supra of Saint Mark's Basilica, and was Count of Bergamo and Belluno. He died in Venice on 6 March 1466, and was buried in the Church of Santa Maria dei Servi.^[36]

Giorgio Loredan (d. 1475) was an admiral, military general and politician, known for investigating political crimes and scandals as head of the Council of Ten.^[37] He was also Count of Zara, Chioggia and Padua.^[37]

Antonio Loredan (1420-1482) was captain of Venetian-held Scutari and governor in Split (Venetian Dalmatia), Venetian Albania and the Morea.^[38] He is famous for the successful defence of Scutari from Sultan Mehmed II's Ottoman forces led by Hadım Suleiman Pasha.^[10] According to some sources, when the Scutari garrison complained for lack of food and water, Loredan told them: "If you are hungry, here is my flesh; if you are thirsty, I give you my blood."^[39] He also served as the Captain General of the Sea and is notable for commissioning the Legend of Saint Ursula (1497/98), a series of large wall-paintings by Vittore Carpaccio originally created for Scuola di Sant'Orsola which was under the patronage of the Loredan family.^[40]

Giovanni Loredan, Lord of Antiparos built the Castle of Antiparos in 1440 and brought inhabitants to the island at his own expense.^[41] He married Maria Sommaripa, of the ruling family of Paros, and they had a daughter, Lucrezia Loredan, Lady of Ios and Therasia.^[42]

Andrea Loredan (1455-1499) was an admiral and the Duke of Corfù, best known for his successful exploits against pirates who raged across the Adriatic and the Mediterranean.^[43] He fought at sea against famous admirals such as Kemāl Reis, stealing from him multiple boats and destroying many by fire, and Pedro Navarro, whom he managed to wound after six hours of fierce battle in Roccella Ionica near Crotone in 1497. Andrea died on a burning ship while fighting against the Ottomans in the Battle of Zonchio in August 1499.^[11]

Antonio Loredan (1446-1514) was the Duke of Friuli, and ambassador to the Papal States, the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire.^[44]

In that same century, Luigi and Giacomo Loredan, both Procurators of Saint Mark, distinguished themselves with important political positions.^[7]

Doge Leonardo Loredan with Four Sons, by Giovanni Bellini, 1507, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin

Leonardo Loredan, born in 1436 to Gerolamo Loredan di S. Vitale and Donata Donà di Natale, was the first doge of the Loredan family. He had a good classical education, focusing on literature, after which he devoted himself to trade in Africa and the Levant to increase the family's finances, where he made his fortune.^[45] In 1461, he married Giustina Giustiniani, of the wealthy branch of S. Moisè, with whom he had nine children: Lorenzo (who became Procurator of St. Mark's), Girolamo (the only one to continue the branch), Alvise, Vincenzo (died in Tripoli in 1499), Bernardo, Donata, Maria (wife of Giovanni Venier, of the branch that gave birth to Doge Francesco Venier), Paola (wife of Giovanni Alvise Venier, descendant of Doge Antonio Venier), and Elisabetta.^[46]

Leonardo's political ascent began at the age of nineteen, when he became a lawyer in the "Giudici di Petizion", a magistracy concerned mainly with financial scandals and bankruptcies, for which he had Filippo Loredan as guarantor. During his political career, he held multiple high positions such as chamberlain of the Comùn, wise man of the council, podestà of Padua, and Procurator of Saint Mark's.^[47] On 31 March 1495, he was one of the three designated by Doge Agostino Barbarigo to negotiate the alliance between Venice, Pope Alexander VI, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg, the Spanish rulers Ferdinand V and Isabella I and the Duke of Milan Ludovico Maria Sforza (King Henry VII of England also joined), with the aim of countering the military operations of the King of France Charles VIII who had, almost without encountering military resistance, entered Naples in February. The army of the League, led by the Marquis of Mantua Francesco II Gonzaga, in the Battle of Fornovo on 6 July forced the French army to withdraw from Italian territory. In October of the same year, Loredan signed the agreement for the conduct of Niccolò Orsini, count of Pitigliano, to the services of the Republic of Venice as governor general of the land militias for the period of three to four years. In January 1497, Loredan, with the wise man of the Terraferma Lodovico Venier, ratified the surrender of Taranto on behalf of the Doge.^[46]

16th century: The Ottomans and the League of Cambrai

Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan (1501) by Giovanni Bellini, National Gallery, London

On the death of Doge Agostino Barbarigo (20 September 1501), Leonardo Loredan was one of the designated candidates in the election of the new doge, which began on 27 September and ended on 2 October with Loredan coming out first with 27 votes in the sixth hand of the first ballot.^[48] The election was successful thanks to his and his wife's influential relations and the sudden death of the most popular opponent, the wealthy procurator Filippo Tron, son of Doge Nicolò Tron.^[49] Leonardo became the 75th Doge of the Venetian Republic and his dogeship is considered one of the most important in the history of Venice.^[50][51][52]

War of the League of Cambrai

Main article: War of the League of Cambrai

Upon the death of Pope Alexander VI in 1503, Venice occupied several territories in the northern Papal States.^[49] When Julius II was elected as Alexander's eventual successor, the Venetians expected their seizure of papal territory to be tacitly accepted, as Julius had been nicknamed Il Veneziano for his pro-Venetian sympathies.^[58][59] But instead the new Pope excommunicated the Republic and demanded the land be returned.^[49] The Republic of Venice, although willing to acknowledge Papal sovereignty over these port cities along the Adriatic coast and willing to pay Julius II an annual tribute, refused to surrender the cities themselves.^[60] In 1508, Julius formed an alliance called the League of Cambrai, uniting the Papal States with France, the Holy Roman Empire and several other Christian states.^[49][61]

The Doge's problems did not end in Europe. In 1509, the Battle of Diu took place, in India, where the Portuguese fleet defeated an Ottoman and Mameluk fleet, which had been transferred from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea with Venetian help. The defeat marked the end of the profitable Spice trade, which was bought by Venetians from the Mameluks in Egypt and in turn monopolised its sale in Europe, reaping great revenues from it.^[62]

The Triumph of Venice, by Pompeo Batoni, 1737, featuring Doge Leonardo Loredan, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh

After losing to the league's forces at the Battle of Agnadello, Venice found its holdings in Italy shrinking drastically.^[63] Soon Padua, Venice's most strategically vital Terraferma holding, had fallen, and Venice itself was threatened. Loredan united the population, calling for sacrifice and total mobilisation.^[64] Padua was retaken, though Venice was still forced to accept a reluctant peace, following which it joined the Pope as only a junior ally in his new war against the French.^[65] The alliance was on the verge of victory, but a dispute arose over territory. Emperor Maximilian refused to surrender any Imperial territory, which in his eyes included most of the Veneto, to the Republic; to this end, he signed an agreement with the Pope to exclude Venice entirely from the final partition. When the Republic objected, Julius threatened to reform the League of Cambrai. In response, Venice turned to Louis; on 23 March 1513, a treaty pledging to divide all of northern Italy between France and the Republic was signed at Blois.^[66] Under this alliance with the French King Louis XII, the Venetians achieved a decisive victory over the Papal States, and were able to secure back all the territories they had lost.^[67] In addition, the Papacy, namely Pope Leo X, a Medici, was forced to repay many outstanding debts to the Loredan family totalling approximately 500,000 ducats, an enormous amount of money.^[68]

Around this time, Leonardo's cousin Andrea Loredan, known as a collector of art, commissioned the Ca' Loredan Vendramin Calergi, a palace on the Grand Canal, to designs by Mauro Codussi.^[69] The palace was paid for by the doge. Andrea also commissioned and paid for the choir of the church of San Michele in Isola, also designed by Codussi. In 1513, during the War of the League of Cambrai, he had to accept the role of quartermaster-general for the army, and he died in the Battle of La Motta in the same year, beheaded by two soldiers who fought over his body.^[11]

The end of the war and the behavior of the doge, who perhaps thought he should enjoy the last years of his life rather than dedicate them to the administration of the state, led to a certain frivolity in Venetian society.^[70] Financial scandals were the order of the day and many public offices were bought at disproportionate prices rather than obtained on merit. In this period the doge bought titles and offices for children and relatives, making the most of his influence.^[70]

Despite Loredan's wishes, he could not lead this pleasant life for long as he began to suffer from health problems. Around the first days of June 1521 his health began to deteriorate and soon gangrene developed in his leg. Any intervention was useless and the gangrene spread, killing him in the night between 20 and 21 June.^[71] It is said that, to warn the councilors and regents of the state, the news of his death was silenced by the doge's own son and was communicated only in the late morning.^[70]

Interestingly, the commercialism and non-exemplary behaviour of his final years did not escape the watchful eye of the Inquisitors of the Dead, a magistracy created after the death of Francesco Foscari, charged with investigating the final "account" of the doge. Perhaps the trial was artfully mounted for political purposes but certainly there were incriminating motives, because the heirs of the doge, despite being defended by the lawyer Carlo Contarini, one of the best of the time, were sentenced to a hefty fine of 9,500 ducats.^[71]

Tomb of Doge Leonardo Loredan, Basilica of Saints John and Paul

Leonardo Loredan died in Venice on 22 June 1521. The death, which occurred between eight and nine, was kept secret until sixteen at the behest of the children who, during their father's agony, had no regard for transporting furniture and objects from the doge's apartment to their residence. As is customary, the body was subjected to embalming practices. On the morning of 23 June, after the body was moved to the Piovego room of the Doge's Palace, the coffin was closed. At the solemn funeral the eulogy was read by the scholar Andrea Navagero, and Pietro Bembo, then abbot and secretary of Pope Leo X, was also present.^[46][70]

Loredan died "with great fame as a prince".^[72] He was interred in the church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, in a simple tomb with a celestial marble headstone without inscription, placed above the steps of the main altar and now no longer existing.^[73] In about 1572, and after some disputes between the Loredan heirs and the friars of the church, a funeral monument was erected for him, divided into three parts and adorned with Corinthian columns in Carrara marble, placed to the left of the main altar, with architecture by Girolamo Grappiglia, and adorned with an extremely lifelike statue, an early work by the sculptor Girolamo Campagna, which depicts him in the act of "getting up and boldly throwing himself in defence of Venice against Europe conspired in Cambrai".^[74] On its right was the statue of Venice with sword in hand and on the left that of the League of Cambrai, with the shield adorned with the heraldic coats of arms of the opposing powers (these, and the others in the monument were done by Danese Cattaneo, a pupil of Sansovino).^[75][76]

In the dramatic events of the early 16th century, Loredan's Machiavellian plots and struggles against the League of Cambrai, the Ottomans, the Mamluks, the Pope, the Republic of Genoa, the Holy Roman Empire, the French, the Egyptians and the Portuguese saved Venice from downfall.^[68]

Numerous portraits of Doge Leonardo Loredan have been painted, most famous of which are those by Giovanni Bellini and Vittore Carpaccio.^[77][78][79] The Panegyricus Leonardo Lauredano was created in 1503 in his honour.^[80][81][82]

Leonardo Loredan was succeeded by Doge Antonio Grimani in 1521, who was married to Leonardo's sister, Dogaressa Caterina Loredan: “The Loredanian tradition for patriotism and nobility was handed on in the gracious personage of Dogaressa Caterina Loredan, sister of Doge Leonardo Loredan – the Consort of his successor Doge Antonio Grimani.”^[72] They had several children, including cardinal Domenico Grimani.^[83]

Sculpture of Angela Loredan Zorzi, by Alessandro Vittoria, 1560, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Taddea Caterina Loredan, Duchess of the Archipelago, known as "a lady of wisdom and great talent",^[13] was the wife of Francesco III Crispo, who was mentally ill and was known as the "Mad Duke".^[13] Francesco attacked her in August 1510; Taddea tried to escape from him, and she fled to the castle of her cousin Lucrezia Loredan, Lady of Ios and Therasia, where Francesco had followed her a day later and attacked her again, on 17 August 1510, now murdering her.^[13] Their son John IV Crispo became the next Duke of the Archipelago in 1517, after a regency period during which he was still too young to rule. A 1908 book by historian William Miller titled "The Latins in the Levant, a History of Frankish Greece" indicates that the regent of the Duchy from 1511 to 1517 was Taddea's brother Antonio Loredan.^[13]

In 1535, Venice ceded the town of Barban in Istria (today part of Croatia) to the Loredan family, which had acquired it in an auction, as a heritable possession. The family made it their summer residence.^[84]

In 1536, the Loredan family acquired what would soon become the Palazzo Loredan in Campo Santo Stefano. Before the restoration by the architect Antonio Abbondi, it was a group of adjacent buildings, in the Gothic style, belonging to the Mocenigo family.^[85] The purchased buildings were substantially restored and made into a single building for the residence of the Loredans of Santo Stefano.

Marco Loredan (1489-1557) was a senator and politician, as well as Count of Brescia, Feltre, Rovigo, Salò and Famagusta, presiding over a time of famine and poverty following the War of the League of Cambrai.^[15]

Marco Loredan (d. 1577) was a priest and senator who was appointed by Pope Julius II as the Bishop of Nona (today Nin, Croatia), a position which he held from 1554 to 1577.^[86] He was also appointed by Pope Gregory XIII as the Apostolic Administrator and Archbishop of Zara (today Zadar, Croatia), where he stayed from 1573 until his death on 25 June 1577.^[87]

Doge Pietro Loredan Beseeching the Virgin, by Palma il Giovane, 1595, Doge's Palace, Venice

Pietro Loredan, born in 1482, became the 84th Doge of Venice and the second doge that the Loredan family gave. He was the third son of Alvise di Polo di Francesco Loredan, and his mother, Isabella Barozzi, came from one of the oldest Venetian noble families. Pietro had an intense but not necessarily prestigious political career, which he accompanied with the care of commercial interests according to the family tradition. Pietro married Maria Pasqualigo, and then Maria Lucrezia di Lorenzo Capello, with whom he had a son, Alvise Loredan (1521-1593), who continued the lineage with numerous offspring.^[8]

Present in 1509 and in 1510 in the defense of Padua and Treviso, he made his debut in public life in 1510 as a sopracomito. In April 1511 he was elected a Senator, and he intervened in the Senate, asking for the reduction of the sum that the Jews had to pay for their "conduct" and ruled in favor of a league with France, also willing to sell Cremona and Ghiara d'Adda in exchange for other territories. In 1513 he left again to defend Padua and Treviso and, available for military roles, he offered to fill the positions of administrator of the Stradioti and the administrator of Adria. He refused his appointment as consul in Alexandria in 1516, when he intensified his entrepreneurial activity: in 1517 Pietro, together with his brothers, armed a ship to transport pilgrims to the Holy Land and the following year he set up a market galley on the Alexandria route.^[88]

Business did not, however, distract him from public service, as evidenced by the various candidacies and the appointment in the College of the Twenty Wise Men, while his financial fortune allowed him to enter the committee of guarantors of Banco Priuli. In 1545 he was one of the nine electors of Doge Francesco Donà; between 1546 and 1549 he ran several times for the Council of Ten, in which, after another stint in the Senate (1549), he entered at the beginning of 1550, becoming its head. Later in the year he became ducal councilor for the Dorsoduro district. In the 1550s, Pietro consolidated his personal prestige, sat assiduously in the Senate, in the Council of Ten, as well as in the Signoria as ducal councilor. In 1559 he was included among the forty-one electors of Doge Girolamo Priuli.^[89]

On 29 November 1567 he was elected doge, which came as a surprise for him. "A man of 85 years, but very prosperous.", wrote of him the papal nuncio Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti, who would later become Pope Innocent IX.^[90] Considered a figure of little political importance, his dogeship was considered the most suitable because it was transitory and politically harmless. Religious and morally upright, educated, and of uncommon wisdom, Pietro was reluctant at the beginning, but in the two and a half years of his reign showed recognized qualities of balance and prudence.^[8]

Pietro Loredan died on 3 May 1570. On the 7th, the state funeral was organised in San Marco, instead of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, due to bad weather. Pietro's body was carried in the cloister of S. Giobbe and buried in the family ark.^[8]

Doge Pietro Loredan was portrayed in the ducal palace by Domenico Tintoretto and the painting placed in the Senate room, and by Jacopo Tintoretto for the one in the Scrutinio room.^[91]

In 1581 the Loredan family, namely the heirs of Andrea Loredan, sold the famous Palazzo Loredan Vendramin Calergi for 50,000 ducats to Eric II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg who took loans to afford it.^[85]

In 1598, an incident occurred which resulted in an urban legend known as The Ghost of Fosco Loredan.^[92] In a burst of anger resulting from jealousy of his wife Elena who attracted many suitors, in this case her cousin of the Mocenigo family, Fosco Loredan murdered her at Campiello del Remèr by decapitating her, and was then ordered by her uncle, Doge Marino Grimani, to walk to Rome while carrying her disfigured body on his back to ask for the Pope's forgiveness, as he was the only one who could grant it to a noble of the rank of Loredan.^[93] After hearing the story, Pope Clement VIII did not want to see him, and, out of desperation, Fosco escaped the guards who were going to imprison him and went back to Venice, where he drowned himself in the Grand Canal. Supposedly, on the anniversary of his wife's killing, his ghost can be seen wandering the streets of Venice at night searching for peace, the peace he lost in the burst of anger on the night he tragically murdered his young wife.^[94]

17th century: Opera and the Accademia

Portrait of Giovanni Francesco Loredan, by Giacomo Piccini, 1647, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Giovanni Francesco Loredan, born in 1607, was a writer and politician. He was born in Venice as the son of Lorenzo Loredan and Leonora Boldù. When both of his parents died while he was very young, he was raised by his uncle Antonio Boldù and had as his teacher Antonio Colluraffi.^[95][96]

He divided his youth between hard study and an extravagant lifestyle.^[97] He attended the classes of renowned Aristotelian philosopher Cesare Cremoni in Padua and began, before 1623, to gather around him the group of scholars who then formed the Accademia degli Incogniti, also called the Loredanian Academy.^[98] As founder of the Accademia degli Incogniti and a member of many other Academies, he had close contact with almost all the scholars of his time.^[99] He and his circle played a decisive role in the creation of modern opera.^[100][101] In addition to literary activity, he also took part in public affairs.^[102] At twenty he was recorded in the Golden Book, but his career began quite late: in September 1632 he was elected 'Savio agli Ordini' and in 1635 he was Treasurer of the fortress of Palmanova. On his return he reorganized the Accademia degli Incogniti (1636) and, in 1638, despite attempts to avoid it, he was obliged, as the only descendant of his branch, to contract marriage with Laura Valier.^[103] He was then Provveditore ai Banchi (1640), 'Provveditore alle Pompe' (1642), and in 1648 he made the leap to the rank of avogador del Comùn that he held several times (1651, 1656 and 1657) and 'Provveditore alle Biave'(1653).^[104] He subsequently joined the offices of the State Inquisitor and became a member of the Council of Ten. In 1656 he entered the Minor Consiglio, that is, among the six patricians who, together with the doge, composed the Serenissima Signoria. However, he may then have been pushed out of office, as in the following years he no longer held important positions. In 1660 he was a Provveditore in Peschiera. The following year (13 August 1661) he died.^[105]

Dogaressa Paolina Loredan was the daughter of Lorenzo Loredan and wife of Doge Carlo Contarini, whom she married on 22 February 1600 in the Church of San Polo. She was an "immensely stout woman and incredibly plain-looking", and therefore she decided she would not appear in public due to fear of being mocked by the populace.^[106] On the façade of the Church of San Vitale, Giuseppe Guoccola sculptured the busts of Doge Carlo and Dogaressa Paolina Loredan, placed there in gratitude of their noble bequests to the clergy.^[106]

Interestingly, near the Palazzo Contarini-Sceriman and the nearby bridge, Leonardo Loredan (d. 1675) was found dead in a boat. The unexplained death was the source of many rumors, claiming accidental death, murder by relatives, or murder by the Inquisitors of the Republic.^[107]

In the second half of the century, his son Francesco Loredan (1656-1715) is notable as he was the Venetian ambassador to Vienna during the Treaty of Karlowitz peace negotiations.^[11][108]

18th century: Wealth, Enlightenment and the Republic's decline

In June 1715, at the end of his last assignment, as a reformer at the University of Padua, Francesco Loredan fell ill and after twenty-two days he died, in the Palace of Santo Stefano, on 10 July 1715. He remained unmarried, and left a very respectable inheritance, increased over the years, despite the huge expenses incurred for the embassy, and consisting of properties in Venice and vast land holdings, embellished with prestigious manor houses, in the Venetian area, around Treviso and Padua, in the Veronese area and in the territories of Rovigo and Polesine, to his brother, Giovanni, also unmarried, and to his nephews, children of his brother Andrea.^[108]

Portrait of Doge Francesco Loredan, by Jacopo Guarana

Francesco Loredan, born in 1685, was the 116th Doge of Venice and the third and last of the Loredan family. He served as Doge from 18 March 1752, until his death on 19 May 1762. Loredan was elected doge on 18 March 1752 but the announcement was made on 6 April, postponed because of Easter.^[109] By this point, the dogal figure had lost nearly all his power and he quickly adapted to this new situation. As Giacomo Nani wrote in 1756, Loredan was able to face the burdens of becoming doge and exercising the office because his family was one of those of the "first class", that is, "very rich" families.^[110] Prodigal and generous, he was described "father of the poor" in two paintings by Pietro Longhi.^[111] He did not have a particular interest in culture and had a limited library showing only a certain activism in the artistic field; in addition to being portrayed by minor painters such as Bartolomeo Nazzari and Fortunato Pasquetti, he designed the reconstruction of the commercial maps of territories and countries in the Sala dello Scudo in the ducal palace and the portraits of the last forty-six doges in the Sala dello Scrutinio.^[111] He also had Giuseppe Angeli fresco part of the noble floor of the family palace in S. Stefano. However, his more constant interest than himself was the management of the family estate, which at the time included numerous palaces and vast land holdings. One of the biggest issues in domestic politics at the time was the clash between the conservatives and the reformers. The latter wanted to substantially reform the Republic and sought to build internal reforms. The conservative pressure groups were able to block these plans and imprisoned or exiled the reformist leaders, such as Angelo Querini, an important figure of the Venetian Enlightenment. The Doge did not want to show favour to one side or the other, so he remained totally passive and limited his support to making it easier for the winning side, thereby losing his chance to change the fate of the dying republic.^[111] By impeding the development of the reformist ideas, he possibly caused the small economic boom which started around 1756 with the outbreak of the Seven Years' War. The neutrality of the Republic during this time allowed the merchants to trade in huge markets without competitors. The French defeat even allowed Venice to become the biggest market for eastern spices.^[111]

Marriage of Catherine Loredan to Giovanni Mocenigo, 1752, Museo Correr

Interestingly, in 1752, Francesco offered the Palazzo Loredan dell'Ambasciatore as a residence for the ambassador of the Holy Roman Empire, and the first Imperial ambassador to live there was Count Philip Joseph Orsini-Rosenberg. In 1759, Loredan was awarded the Golden Rose by Pope Clement XIII, becoming the first and only doge to obtain the award.^[112]

At one point the Doge, who was old and tired by then, seemed about to die but recovered and lived for another year, until his death on 19 May 1762. The funeral took place on 25 May, and he was buried in the basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, in Leonardo Loredan's dogal tomb.^[113] The funeral cost an impressive sum of around 18,700 ducats, and was paid for by Francesco's brother Giovanni.^[114][111]

Interestingly, the famed author and adventurer Giacomo Casanova was locked in the notorious lead chambers under Francesco Loredan's government in 1755 for suspicious activities, from which he managed his spectacular escape.^[115]

During this time, the Loredan family was incredibly wealthy and owned numerous palaces.^[111]

The main line of the family branch of Santo Stefano ended in 1750 with Andrea di Girolamo Loredan who died young, and the branch became extinct in 1767 with the death of Giovanni Loredan, brother of Doge Francesco.^[111]

19th century: After the fall of Venice

Palazzo Loredan a Santa Marina in Castello, Palazzo Signolo Loredan in Dorsoduro, and Palazzo Loredan-Porcia in Pordenone, Friuli.

After the fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797, some branches of the family were named on the basis of Venetian toponyms: San Luca, San Giovanni in Bragora, San Pantaleone etc.^[116]

Antonio Francesco di Domenico Loredan held the title of count in the Austrian Empire, and his brothers were also listed in the official list of nobles.^[117][118]

Teodoro Loredan Balbi (Krk, 7 November 1745 - Novigrad, 23 May 1831) was the last Bishop of Novigrad, a position which he held from 1795 until his death on 23 May 1831.^[29] He was ordained a priest in 1768. His uncle, the Bishop of Pula, Giovanni Andrea Balbi, appointed him a canon scholastic, prosinodal examiner and inquisitor in his diocese.^[119] In 1795 he received his doctorate in theology from the University of Padua, and in the same year Pope Pius VI appointed him as Bishop of Novigrad. Sudden political changes caused by the Napoleonic Wars soon followed: the collapse of the Venetian Republic in 1797, a brief change in Austrian and French rule, and the eventual establishment of Austrian rule in Istria after the Congress of Vienna in 1815.^[29] Although he did not get involved in the political events of the time, Napoleon's authorities detained him for 10 months in Venice after a trial, where he experienced all sorts of humiliations. After returning to the seat, he was for a time the only bishop in Istria and, under the authority of the Holy See, he visited the dioceses of Poreč and Pula.^[29] At the suggestion of Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, Pope Leo XII abolished the Diocese of Novigrad in 1828, which became part of the Diocese of Trieste, but, according to the Pope's order, only after Teodoro's death. As a bishop he sent three letters to the Holy See, in 1798, 1802 and 1807; in them he reported that in the diocese there were one cathedral and one choir church, 17 parishes, and many fraternities; that he opened a seminary and a pawnshop, founded a canonry of theologians and penitents, etc. He was buried in the church of St. Agatha in Novigrad, and his remains were transferred in 1852 to the bishop's tomb in the cathedral.^[29]

20th century: Villas and wineries

Villa Loredan at Paese

In the 1950s, Count Piero Loredan, descendant of Doge Leonardo Loredan, founded the Conte Loredan Gasparini winery. He chose the territory of Vignigazzu to establish his home in a grand Palladian villa - The Villa Loredan at Paese.^[120] The winery is located in Venegazzù di Volpago del Montello, in the Veneto region, in the heart of the Marca Trevigiana, an area famous for the production of wines since the 16th century.^[120]

In the 1960s, Countess Nicoletta Loredan Moretti degli Adimari founded the Barchessa Loredan winery, located in Selva del Montello, within a 16th-century Palladian barchessa. The Barchessa Loredan is a magnificent example of Palladian architecture. The noble residence was built in the 16th century; originally it was part of a vast complex which also included a large villa destroyed in 1840. The imposing Barchessa remains of the original complex, with the entrance gates and part of the surrounding wall. The building consists of nine arches with a volute keystone and framed by Doric pilasters supporting a molded entablature, which extends over the entire ground floor. Above the portico rises the first floor, with a very large attic, perfectly restored, in which the most significant memories of the Loredan family are preserved.^[121]

In the 1980s, after the death of her husband Antonio Rizzardi, Countess Maria Cristina Rizzardi Loredan found herself managing the Guerrieri Rizzardi winery, based on Lake Garda, which she expanded with new vineyards and wines, also applying the concept of ‘Cru’ as a mark of quality restricted to a well-defined vineyard.^[122] She then became President of the Garda Oil Protection Consortium in 1984, and obtained the recognition of the extra virgin olive oil in Garda DOP. In 2010 she was awarded with the Order of Merit for Labour by the President of Italy.^[122]

In the Middle Ages

Ca' Loredan, a 13th-century palace on the Grand Canal.

Certain historians, such as Jacopo Zabarella, stated that the Loredans were already wealthy upon their arrival to Venice in the early 11th century, and some sources claimed they are descended from an illustrious ancient lineage originating in Rome.^[2] That is why Gaius Mucius Scaevola was at times boasted as the traditional progenitor of the family. While the ancient Roman origin of the Loredans has not been proven true or false, it is most likely true that they greatly increased their wealth in the lucrative silk and spice trade, as well as the slave trade, in the Middle Ages.^[20] After the travels of Marco Polo in the late 13th century, many Venetian merchants set out to establish trade companies in Asia, and the Loredans were no exception, with the family already sending out and operating trade convoys to Egypt, Persia, India and China by the 1330s.

Besides the now established trading activities, some sources point to instances of piracy and notorious organised usury by family members in the 13th and 14th centuries, of which they were accused multiple times but managed to avoid charges by means of threats or bribery.^[20] The wealth which came from these activities was then put into building some of the Loredan palaces in Venice.^[20]

In the 15th century, the family came into possession of the Aegean island of Antiparos, with Giovanni Loredan building the Castle of Antiparos in 1440 and bringing inhabitants to the island at his own expense.^[12] At this time, the branch of the family which was settled in the Aegean married into the ruling families of other Greek islands, with Antonio Loredan even briefly ruling the Duchy of the Archipelago as regent in the early 16th century while his nephew and future duke John IV Crispo was still a child.^[13]

In the Renaissance and the early modern period

The family's wealth started to significantly increase with the start of the 16th century, mainly due to increased power and influence arising from Leonardo Loredan’s election as Doge in 1501. Besides being one of the most important rulers in the history of Venice, Leonardo was a very capable merchant and businessman from a young age, devoting himself to trade in Africa and the Levant, thus increasing the family's finances.^[45] Leonardo Loredan would rule for twenty years, until 1521, during which time, and due to his cunning political and wartime military maneuvers, the family grew to be incredibly wealthy and powerful. In the War of the League of Cambrai, after making an alliance with the King of France Louis XII, Leonardo led Venice to a victory against the Papal States, after which the Pope was forced to repay many outstanding debts to the Loredan family totalling approximately 500,000 ducats, an obscene amount of money.^[157] For comparison purposes, a century earlier Venice acquired the entire coastal region of Dalmatia from Hungary for 100,000 ducats.^[158]

Towards the end of his reign, financial scandals became the order of the day in Venice, and many public offices and positions were bought at disproportionate prices. The doge did not hesitate to make the most of his influence, and many titles and offices were bought for his children and relatives.^[70] After his death, and due to the questionable behaviour in his final years, the family was sued and sentenced to a hefty fine of 9,500 ducats, despite being defended by Carlo Contarini, one of the best lawyers of the time.^[70] While this would mean that there was an incriminating element to Leonardo's actions, the trial was nevertheless artfully mounted for political purposes by rival families.^[70]

At the time, many beautiful and iconic palaces were acquired and built, including the Palazzo Loredan dell’Ambasciatore, the Ca’ Loredan Vendramin Calergi and the Palace of Santo Stefano. Of particular significance is the impressive Ca’ Loredan Vendramin Calergi, which the heirs of Andrea Loredan sold in 1581 for 50,000 ducats to the Eric II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, who had to take loans to be able to afford it.^[85]

Coin featuring Doge Francesco Loredan, 1754

On the family's colossal wealth in the 18th century, it is enough to look at the reported revenues and spending habits of just one man, Francesco Loredan, who became Doge in 1752. According to the historian Giacomo Nani, Francesco was able to face the burdens of becoming doge and exercising the office because his family was one of those "first class", that is, "very rich" families.^[110] In 1741 he declared revenues of nearly 11,000 ducats; in 1758 alone he spent almost 43,000 for dogal endeavours and when he died, his income exceeded 118,000 ducats. This was joined by the very extensive family landholdings. The costs of election feasts have often been incorrectly estimated, even by contemporaries (a 1772 writing in the Loredan files speaks of 90,000 ducats, while Samuele Romanin estimates them to be around 21,700).^[159] The surviving list of the individual items, however, allows us to estimate the cost at just over 38,600 ducats (of these, 2310 for the orchestra, 7635 for refreshments, 5800 donated to the people and 2140 to the arsenalotti). The figure for the celebrations seems incredibly high, with Romanin estimating it to be much higher than previous doges and unsurpassed by several successors.^[159] Despite this, one of the sonnets composed for the occasion complained of insufficient results, mocking the music and claiming that the "machine" of fireworks had funerary references. The expenses in the first year of his dogeship are also impressive, spending more than 117,000 ducats, including 6250 spent on furs.^[160] His more constant interest than himself, however, was the management of the family estate. In addition to the famous palace, two buildings in S. Stefano and a house in San Basso, from the tithing census of 1739 and from other sources there were at least 76 houses and shops owned in various districts of Venice and Mazzorbo.^[111] There were also many buildings, agricultural lands and fields in the Venetian hinterland (Marghera, Meolo), in the Polesine (Canda, Anguillara Veneta, S. Martino di Venezze, Rovigo, Badia Polesine, Polesella) and in the Paduan area (Montagnana, Cittadella, Piove di Sacco, Altichiero), Trevigiano (Monastier, Conegliano, Asolo), Vicentino (Noventa Vicentina) and Verona, Friuli (Latisana) and Istria (Rovigno and Barban).^[111] Particularly important are the villas and land in Stra, Canda and Noventa Vicentina. It seems that these possessions, until 1755 in co-ownership with uncle Giovanni di Leonardo, brother of his father, largely dated back to the marriage, in the 1620s, of Francesca Barbarigo with Francesco Loredan, Loredan's great-grandfather. According to an estimate from 1755, the ex-Barbarigo lands yielded 11,000 ducats per year.^[111]

Palaces

Palazzo Loredan dell'Ambasciatore and Ca' Loredan Vendramin Calergi, 15th-century palaces on the Grand Canal in Venice.

The Palazzo Loredan dell'Ambasciatore on the Grand Canal derived its popular name as the residence of the ambassador of the Holy Roman Empire, which was offered as a residence for the Imperial ambassador by Doge Francesco Loredan.^[85][161] The great collector in the family was Andrea Loredan who constructed a palazzo on the Cannaregio to designs by Mauro Codussi; it was paid for by Doge Leonardo Loredan; it was bought in the eighteenth century by the Vendramin family, and the Ca' Loredan Vendramin Calergi is notable today for its association with Richard Wagner.^[69] Palazzo Loredan in Campo S. Stefano is today the Venetian Institute of Science, Literature and Arts, and it holds the busts of famous Venetians which form the Panteon Veneto.^{[162][163][164][165]} Palazzo Loredan Cini, a Gothic style palace located on the Grand Canal, has a large collection of precious artworks which are on permanent display on the first floor of the palace.^[166] Ca' Loredan, whose main facade features polifora windows, is today home to the city's municipal council.^[167] The Palazzo Giustinian Loredan is still today owned by the family.^[168] Palazzo Loredan Gheltoff is a 14th/15th century early Gothic palace located at Calle dell'Aseo in the Cannaregio district of Venice.^[169][170] Palazzo Loredan a San Cancian is a palace of the San Cancian branch of the Loredan family located at Calle Larga Widmann in the Cannaregio district of Venice, near the Church of San Canciano after which it was named.^[85] The Loredan Palace in Barban was transformed from an already existing castle into a family residence in 1606.^[29] Giovanni Loredan, Lord of Antiparos, built the Castle of Antiparos in 1440 and brought new inhabitants to the island at his own expense.^[42]

Loredan villas

In the terraferma there are numerous Loredan villas - at Strà on the Brenta Canal; at Paese, near Treviso, the villa painted by Francesco Guardi; at Asolo; at Sant'Urbano, near Padua. The domain of the Villa Loredan at Paese was planted with grapevines in the 1950s by Count Pietro Loredan; the award-winning wine continues to be made under the label Conte Loredan Gasparini.^[120]

• 
  Villa Loredan at Paese
• 
  Villa Loredan Grimani Avezzù in Fratta Polesine
• 
  Villa Loredan Morosini in Resana
• 
  Villa Razzolini Loredan in Asolo
• 
  Villa Loredan at Carbonera
• 
  Villa Marcello Loredan Franchin in Ceggia
• 
  Villa Loredan at Stra
• 
  Villa Nani Loredan in Sant'Urbano
• 
  Villa Loredan Bragadin in Noventa Padovana
• 
  Villa Loredan van Axel in Montebelluna
• 
  Barchessa Loredan in Selva del Montello

Depictions in art

• 
  Palazzo Loredan Vendramin Calergi, by Canaletto, 1750s, Private Collection
• 
  Palazzo Loredan dell'Ambasciatore, by Francesco Guardi, National Museum Cardiff
• 
  Villa Loredan del Timpano Arcuato, by Francesco Guardi, National Gallery, London
• 
  Villa Loredan at Paese, by Francesco Guardi, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
• 
  Villa Loredan at Paese, by Francesco Guardi, The Frick Collection, New York City
• 
  Capriccio of the Scuola di San Marco from the Loggia of the Palazzo Grifalconi Loredan, by Canaletto, 1750s, Private Collection
• 
  Campo Santo Stefano, by Canaletto, c. 1735–1740, featuring Palazzo Loredan in Campo S. Stefano (right), Royal Collection
• 
  View of Campo Santo Stefano with the Loredan Palace and the Morosini Palace, by Luca Carlevarijs, 1703, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

Lands

Among the more substantial land possessions and estates privately held by the family throughout history were the island of Antiparos in Greece, the towns of Bertinoro, Loreo, Ormelle, and Vangadizza in northern and central Italy, as well as Barban and Rakalj on the Istrian Peninsula in Croatia.

• 
  Loreo, a town in the Veneto thought to have been founded by the Loredan family around the beginning of the 9th century.
• 
  Bertinoro, Emilia-Romagna, owned by the family in the Middle Ages.
• 
  Barban, one of the family's Istrian possessions, acquired in 1534.
• 
  Rakalj, in Istria, was one of the family's preferred summer residences from the 16th to the 19th century.
• 
  Antiparos, a Greek island owned by Giovanni Loredan and his family in the 15th century.

Impact on Jewish history

The Venetian Ghetto

The Venetian Ghetto from above.

On March 29, 1516, by decree of Doge Leonardo Loredan, the Venetian Senate declared that if the Jews wanted to continue living in Venice, they had to stay on a small island surrounded by canals in the northern part of the city.^[171] By this decision, the first Jewish ghetto in the world was created in the Cannaregio district of Venice, thus starting centuries of segregation which would spread across Europe, and the Venetian word ghèto soon became a popular term to describe isolated urban communities of ethnic minorities. Scholars believe that the Loredan government which had established the Ghetto did so because they believed that the Jews could not be integrated with the city's mainly Roman Catholic population.^[172]

Life in the Ghetto was very restricted, and the movement of Jews outside of the ghetto was difficult. Jews were locked in the ghetto at night and Christian guards on boats patrolled the narrow canals and short bridges to enforce the rules. The Jews were even forced to pay the salaries of their Christian wardens.^[172] While appallingly discriminatory, it was, for some, a shelter from even worse persecution elsewhere.^[173]

Although it was home to a large number of Jews, accounting for 1,000 people out of the city's 160,000 at the time, and mainly consisting of merchants, the population living in the Venetian Ghetto never assimilated to form a distinct, "Venetian Jewish" ethnicity. Four of the five synagogues were clearly divided according to ethnic identity: separate synagogues existed for the German (the Scuola Grande Tedesca), Italian (the Scuola Italiana), Spanish and Portuguese (the Scuola Spagnola), and Levantine Sephardi communities (the Scuola Levantina). The fifth, the Scuola Canton, was possibly built as a private synagogue and also served the Venetian Ashkenazi community. At its peak in the middle of the 17th century, nearly 5,000 Jews lived in the Ghetto. To accommodate births and new arrivals, they could only build upwards, resulting in some of the world's first “skyscrapers,” which at seven or eight storeys are still some of the tallest buildings in the city.^[172]

In 1797, the French Army of Italy commanded by 28-year-old Napoleon Bonaparte occupied Venice, forcing the Republic to collapse on 12 May 1797, and ended the ghetto's separation from the city on 11 July of the same year. Today, the Ghetto is still a center of Jewish life in the city. The Jewish community of Venice, that counts about 450 people, is culturally active, although only a few members live in the Ghetto because the area has become increasingly expensive.^[174] Anniversary events are held in the ghetto and include a production of William Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice and a major exhibition called "Venice, the Jews, and Europe", at the Doge's Palace - the same place where the decree that started the ghetto was signed 500 years ago.^[172]

Relationship with the Jewish community

Pietro Loredan was among those who advocated for Jewish rights in the second half of the 16th century.

Despite playing a part in the creation of the first Jewish ghetto, the decision to do so was not only made by Leonardo Loredan, but by other senators who advocated for segregation believing that the presence of Jews in the city and their money lending practices would degrade the Christian morals and values of Venetian citizens. Later in the 16th century, some members of the Loredan family, including Pietro Loredan, fought in the Senate for the reduction of the sum the Jews had to pay for their “conduct”.^[175]

In the 17th century onwards, the Loredans were noted for supporting and taking in Jews arriving in Venice, several of whom adopted the “Loredan” name in recognition of the family's generosity. For instance, records exist of a Spanish Jewish family fleeing persecution in Spain who took the Loredan name after a member of the Loredan family sponsored their education and conversion to Christianity. As a result, descendants of these Loredan converts can be found in the former Venetian territories and the diaspora.^[176]

In the 18th century, as Captain General of the Sea, one Loredan wrote letters of recommendation for many Jews from Mediterranean cities and islands, and helped them with affording and boarding ships bound for Venice.^[177]

Patronage and impact on art history

Loredans in art

The Virgin with Child and Saints Adored by Doge Leonardo Loredan, by Vincenzo Catena, 1506, Doge's Palace

Many Loredans were portrayed by renowned artists of the Venetian School contemporaneous to the family members who had commissioned the associated artworks, and also posthumously. The most famous of these is the Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan, painted by Giovanni Bellini in 1501/02, around the time of Leonardo's ascension to the dogeship, and now on display at the National Gallery in London. Vittore Carpaccio's Portrait of Leonardo is another famous depiction of the doge, displayed at the Museo Correr. Another well-known depiction of him is the Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan with Four Sons, again by Bellini, and now on display at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin. Leonardo Loredan was also featured in paintings by Gentile Bellini, Palma the Younger, Vincenzo Catena, Domenico Tintoretto, Carlo and Gabriele Caliari, Pompeo Batoni, Francesco Maggiotto, as well as various other painters, and in sculptures created by the likes of Girolamo Campagna, Danese Cattaneo, and Pietro Lombardo. He was also depicted posthumously in a number of paintings celebrating his victory over the League of Cambrai. The second Loredan doge, Pietro, was likewise portrayed by a number of artists; the most famous depiction of him is the Portrait by Tintoretto, painted in 1567 and now on display at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. Palma the Younger's Doge Pietro Loredan Beseeching the Virgin is another famous depiction, located at the Doge's Palace. The third doge, Francesco, was portrayed in the 18th century by Fortunato Pasquetti and Jacopo Guarana, among others.

Patronage

Immortalised in painting by numerous renowned artists, Leonardo Loredan is one of the most easily distinguishable figures of the Italian Renaissance. Nevertheless, little is known about his patronage of the arts during this crucial era in art history. Furthermore, there still remains much to be explored regarding the wide range of artistic endeavours carried out for the Doge's extended family, many of which overlapped with those under Leonardo's direction. This is especially the case for Andrea Loredan, a cousin of Leonardo, and one of the most prominent art collectors of the time. It is certain, however, that Loredan patronage, which included both the public and the private, the official, religious, and dynastic, was a massive, intricately connected undertaking that adorned numerous sites throughout Venice and involved nearly every significant artist active in the city during this period.

The Meeting of Ursula and the Prince, by Vittore Carpaccio, 1497, Gallerie dell'Accademia. In the middle, sitting on a parapet, is Antonio Loredan, member of the Compagnia della Calza and commissioner of the work.

Among the most famous works of art commissioned by the family is the Legend of Saint Ursula, a series of large wall-paintings on canvas by the Venetian Renaissance master Vittore Carpaccio.^[178] Originally created for the School of Saint Ursula, which was under the family's patronage, the paintings are now on display at the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice. The series was commissioned by Antonio Loredan, who is depicted in several of the paintings, although these paintings were created well after his death.

The family was also among the first to discover the talents of Titian, Giorgione, and Sebastiano del Piombo. Titian's first masterpiece, The Flight into Egypt, which he painted aged only 18, was commissioned by Andrea Loredan, and was intended for the portico of Andrea's newly constructed palace on the Grand Canal, now known as the Ca' Loredan Vendramin Calergi.^[179] Likewise, Sebastiano del Piombo's early painting The Judgement of Solomon was commissioned around the same time, also for the purpose of adorning the new Loredan palace.^[180]

• 
  The Flight into Egypt, by Titian, 1508, The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg
• 
  Pastoral Concert, by Titian or Giorgione, 1509, Musée du Louvre, Paris
• 
  Adoration of the Shepherds, by Giorgione, c. 1505–1510, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
• 
  The Judgement of Solomon, by Sebastiano del Piombo, c. 1505–1510, Kingston Lacy (National Trust), Dorset

In popular culture

Doge Francesco Loredan and Giacomo Casanova in Casanova (2005).

Francesco Loredan was portrayed by Tim McInnerny (as 'The Doge') in the 2005 American romance film Casanova, loosely based on the life of the famous adventurer and author Giacomo Casanova, who was imprisoned in the Piombi under Loredan's government in 1755 for affront to religion and common decency.

Leonardo Loredan appeared as one of the characters in the 2009 action-adventure video game Assassin’s Creed II. Set at the height of the Italian Renaissance, the game also features other historical figures of the time, including Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolò Machiavelli, Caterina Sforza, Bartolomeo d'Alviano, the Medici family, the Pazzi family, the Barbarigo family, and Pope Alexander VI.

MV Loredan

The old and the new Loredan ships. The latter is photographed off the coast of Beirut, Lebanon. The winged Lion of St. Mark is visible on the funnel of both ships.

The MV Loredan was an Italian mixed motor ship and auxiliary cruiser of the Italian Royal Navy in World War II, named in honour of the many admirals of the Loredan family.^[181]

Built in 1936 in Monfalcone, it initially served as a civil transport ship on several lines in the Adriatic Sea.^[182] In 1941 it was registered as an auxiliary cruiser in the Italian Royal Navy. In twenty-one months of service, it carried out a total of 193 missions, consisting mainly of escort services in the Tyrrhenian Sea.^[183]

On 10 April 1943, it left the port of Cagliari as an escort to a small convoy headed for the archipelago of La Maddalena. Shortly after the departure, the convoy was spotted by the British submarine HMS Safari, which proceeded to launch torpedoes at the Italian ships, sinking the Loredan with nearly all her crew.^[184]

The wreck of the Loredan lies on its left side, with the stern severely damaged, at a depth of between 52 and 67 meters, on the seabed of the Gulf of Cagliari, at 39°08' N and 9°23' E. Today, she is a frequent diving destination.^[184]

A new Loredan cargo ship was subsequently built in 1946, and broken up in 1971.^[185]

Conte Loredan Gasparini

Count Piero Loredan, founder of the Conte Loredan Gasparini winery.

The Conte Loredan Gasparini winery was founded in the 1950s by Count Piero Loredan, descendant of the Doge of Venice Leonardo Loredan, who chose the territory of Vignigazzu to establish his home in a grand Palladian villa - The Villa Loredan at Paese.^[120]

The winery is located in Venegazzù di Volpago del Montello, in the Veneto region, in the heart of the Marca Trevigiana, an area famous for the production of wines since the 16th century.^[201]

Barchessa Loredan

Countess Nicoletta Loredan in the 1960s.

The Barchessa Loredan winery is located in Selva del Montello, within a 16th-century Palladian barchessa. It is owned by the Loredan family, who managed the latest renovation.^[121]

It directly produces and markets its wines obtained from D.O.C. Montello and D.O.C.G. Asolo. The farm covers an area of 50 hectares (120 acres) of vineyards in the hamlets of Selva and Venegazzù, and is managed by Countess Nicoletta Loredan Moretti degli Adimari, who founded it in the 1960s. The Barchessa, surrounded by vineyards, is also clearly visible from the Schiavonesca state road, (Montebelluna Conegliano) to which it is connected by a long avenue of centuries-old hazelnuts.^[121]

The Barchessa Loredan is a magnificent example of Palladian architecture. The noble residence was built in the 16th century; originally it was part of a vast complex which also included a large villa destroyed in 1840.^[121]

The imposing Barchessa remains of the original complex, with the entrance gates and part of the surrounding wall. The building consists of nine arches with a volute keystone and framed by Doric pilasters supporting a moulded entablature, which extends over the entire ground floor.^[121]

Above the portico rises the first floor, with a very large attic, perfectly restored, in which the most significant memories of the Loredan family are preserved.^[121]

Guerrieri Rizzardi

Portrait of Countess Maria Cristina Loredan, by Remo Faggi, 1992

In the 1980s, after the death of her husband Antonio Rizzardi, Countess Maria Cristina Rizzardi Loredan found herself managing the Guerrieri Rizzardi winery, based on Lake Garda. Carrying on from her husband, she further developed the estates and the vineyards, seeking out new international markets and developing new wines. She succeeded in expanding the winery with new vineyards and wines, also applying the concept of ‘Cru’ as a mark of quality restricted to a well-defined vineyard.^[122] The Countess would become a well-known figure in the wine world and her hard work, keen vision and determination were widely recognised. Her achievements were honoured in 2010 when she was the first woman from the region to be awarded the Order of Merit for Labour, Italy's highest honour for those who are meritorious business people in agriculture, commerce and industry.^[122]

• 
  The Bardolino Estate
• 
  The Valpolicella Estate
• 
  The Soave Estate
• 
  The Val d'Adige Estate