From lead roofing to zinc-titanium coverings * As mentioned in Avagnina, E. and Beltramini, G. Per Franco Barberi. Studi di storia dell’arte e dell’architettura, Venice: Marsilio, 2004, pp. 269 and ff. ETAGE NOBLE Seen from above, Venice is a puzzle of small red tiled roofs interrupted here and there by silver surfaces of palaces, churches, and boat platforms covered by lead and zinc-titanium. The usage of metals in the city of Venice has a centuries-long history. As it does not decay or break easily, metal is a far more resistant material than wood or terracotta. It can also be laid in fine slates and forma light surface which does not burden the structure underneath, whilst its malleability allows to mould and shape it into precise patterns. Since the Medieval ages, lead has always been the favourite construction metal amongst the available materials, as well as the most expensive. As described by historian Donald Nicol in Byzantium: Its Ecclesiastical History and Relations with the Western World, the bankrupt Latin emperor Baldwin II tried to glean money by selling the lead roofing of his palaces — according to other sources, he even pawned Jesus’ crown of thorns. Until the end of 1300, lead was therefore only used for the roofing of San Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace, which hosted the notorious escape-proof prison from where, as told in The Story of My Escape from i Piombi, Giacomo Casanova escaped the night of the 1st of November 1756. The usage of lead as coating agent becomes more popular halfway through 1400, generously founded by some of the families involved in the construction of the churches of Santa Maria dei Miracoli and San Zaccaria. From that moment, lead roofing is implemented, The new greenhouses of San Marco Royal Gardens, near Piazza San Marco. 7 EXCERPT
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