From Triton Neptvni Tubicen to the Glory of Lepanto The Early Modern Rebirth(s) of a Roman Arch in Zadar

Abstract

The paper discusses early modern reconstructions of a first-century Roman arch preserved in the eastern Adriatic town of Zadar, at the time part of Venetian Dalmatia. Its reconstructions of the 1430s and the 1570s are contextualized within complex cultural and historical references. The Quattrocento renovation is associated with the reinterpretation of civic imagery through authentication of its classical roots, while that of the late Cinquecento is inscribed within the broader political and cultural context of contemporary Venetian promotion of Romanitas.