Database: Palaces for the wealthy

What better show of wealth and prestige than owning your own palace in the city center? The richest families of the Renaissance competed to build the most exclusive palaces, with the best architects, including the finest decorations and adornments inside and out, such as sculptures, paintings or carvings. Note that palaces were usually conceived as the main element of a larger architectural complex including a church and an open square, in order to showcase the magnificent façades of the buildings. Venice had a number of them, mostly privately owned, along with the famous Palace of the Doge, on Saint Mark's square, named after the title of the highest authority of the Republic of Venice.