La Serenissima;: The last flowering of the Venetian Republic

In 1797 the last Doge abdicated before the military power of Napoleon Bonaparte, and Venice finally lost her independence. It was during this last century of her statehood that Venice, renowned as "La Serenissima," was the pleasure paradise of Europe and focus of the Grand Tour. To this city of the libertine gambler Casanova, of magical light and water, masked carnival and gondolas, tourists flocked eager for gaiety, romance and excitement. But tourists also thronged to Venice and the Veneto to enjoy an exceptional flowering of the arts and intellect. That this artistic resurgence should coincide with the decline of Venice's political power and with an apparent growth of frivolity is a remarkable paradox. "La Serenissima" is an exploration of that paradox.