VETTOR FAUSTO (1490-1546), PROFESSOR OF GREEK AND A NAVAL ARCHITECT: A NEW LIGHT ON THE 16TH-CENTURY MANUSCRIPT MISURE DI VASCELLI ETC. DI…PROTO DELL’ARSEALE DI VEETIA A Thesis by LILIA CAMPANA Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS December 2010 Major Subject: Anthropology VETTOR FAUSTO (1490-1546), PROFESSOR OF GREEK AND A NAVAL ARCHITECT: A NEW LIGHT ON THE 16TH-CENTURY MANUSCRIPT MISURE DI VASCELLI ETC. DI…PROTO DELL’ARSEALE DI VEETIA A Thesis by LILIA CAMPANA Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Approved by: Chair of Committee, Filipe Vieira de Castro Committee Members, Cemalettin Mustafa Pulak Vivian Paul Head of Department, Donny L. Hamilton December 2010 Major Subject: Anthropology iii ABSTRACT Vettor Fausto (1490-1546), Professor of Greek and a Naval Architect: A New Light on the 16th-century Manuscript Misure di vascelli etc. di…proto dell’Arsenale di Venetia. (December 2010) Lilia Campana, B.A., University of Urbino Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Filipe Vieira de Castro This thesis investigates the significant role that the Venetian humanist Vettor Fausto (1490-1546), professor of Greek at the School of Saint Mark, played during the first half of the 16th century in Venetian naval architecture. Early in the 16th century, the maritime power of Venice was seriously threatened by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman II in the East and by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in the West. In order to regain its naval power in the Mediterranean, the Republic of Venice strongly encouraged Venetian shipwrights to submit new designs for war galleys. The undisputed founder and champion of this naval program was not a skilled shipwright but a young professor of Greek in the School of Saint Mark named Vettor Fausto, who in the heat of this renewal programme, proposed “marine architecture” as a new scientia. In 1529, Vettor Fausto built a quinqueremis whose design, he claimed, was based upon the quinquereme “used by the Romans during their wars” and that he had derived the shipbuilding proportions “from the most ancient Greek manuscripts.” The recovery of Classical traditions resulted in major changes in many fields. It included shipbuilding iv practices as well, especially after Fausto introduced in the Venetian Arsenal a new scientia, that of “marine architecture”, in opposition to the fabrilis peritia, the empirical shipbuilding practice. This work examines several Renaissance sources and archival material in order to illuminate the technical features and the design of Fausto’s quinquereme. Based on the study of the anonymous 16th-century Venetian manuscript Misure di vascelli etc. di…proto dell’Arsenale di Venetia from the State Archive of Venice, this thesis presents a general overview of Fausto’s life and his cultural background in order to better understand the humanistic foundations that led him to propose the construction of the quinquereme. Also presented in this thesis is a theoretical reconstruction of Fausto’s quinquereme and the suggestion that the shipbuilding instructions contained in the anonymous manuscript are connected to the work of Fausto in the Venetian Arsenal. v To Alberta and Gastone Campana “…for parents can provide their children with no more lasting resources, no more dependable protection in life than instruction.” vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is a pleasure to acknowledge the support of the many people who allowed me to research and write this thesis. I am grateful to the Institute of Nautical Archaeology for providing me the opportunity to advance my knowledge of Renaissance Venetian naval architecture by studying original shipbuilding manuscripts in various libraries and archives. I am especially thankful to all the Board of Directors, founders, sponsors, and donors of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology for their unremitting, generous funding, and for believing in my project and my ability to complete it. My heartfelt gratitude and appreciation goes to the Faculty of the Nautical Archaeology Program for the numerous grants that allowed me to conduct the research and to present it at various conferences and symposia. My sincere appreciation is extended to the Department of Anthropology at Texas A&M University for the many travel grants, and to the ProMare Foundation Inc. for their financial assistance in 2008. I am most grateful to the members of my thesis committee: Drs. Filipe Castro, Cemal Pulak, and Vivian Paul. Dr. Filipe Castro entrusted me with the position of being his assistant from 2007 to 2009 and work with graduate students in the J. Richard Steffy Reconstruction Ship Laboratory. The stimulating discussions on ship design and ship lines drawings have been a rewarding experience that enriched me both professionally and personally. Dr. Cemal Pulak has kindly and generously shared his extensive knowledge of shipbuilding and nautical archaeology with me, providing me with constructive criticism and brilliant insights. As his assistant from 2009 until the present vii time, I had the great opportunity to work with Dr. Pulak in what I consider more than simply my intellectual home, the Old World Laboratory. Dr. Pulak’s various projects and challenging research enabled me to improve my knowledge in ways I never anticipated. For being an inspiration for what a scholarly researcher should be and for forcing me to be always constructively critical in my approach to research, I would like to thank him with some words I found on the back of a rare printed book in the Marciana Library in Venice, presumably written by a student: “Excellent is the teacher who, by teaching, incites in his pupils a great desire to learn.” Dr. Vivian Paul shared with me her knowledge and huge bibliography in her History of Medieval Architecture class. Her lectures broadened my perspective on medieval design and construction methods, and offered me a closer insight into the world of craftsmanship, which enabled me to better understand the strict relationship espoused between a mason building a cathedral, and a shipwright building a ship. To my committee members, thank you for all of your guidance, support, and caring assistance throughout the course of this research. This work could have not been possible without Mauro Bondioli, who is one of the most prominent and unsurpassed researchers in the field of Venetian shipbuilding manuscripts. Mauro Bondioli introduced me to archival research when I first met him in 2007, and provided me with a wealth of information during 2007-2008. He kindly proposed the topic of the present study as my thesis subject, and brought to my attention the anonymous 16th-century manuscript Misure di vascelli etc. di…proto dell’Arsenale di Venetia as a document possibly recording measurements of Fausto’s ships. The technical aspects of Fausto’s quinquereme were studied under his patient guidance and viii unfailing assistance. Working on Renaissance shipbuilding manuscripts represents an intriguing challenge for the mind and a great pleasure for the spirit, but it requires, so to speak, the attitude and the patience of the pioneer. Mauro Bondioli greatly facilitated my work by guiding me thorough the cryptic texts of shipbuilding manuscripts. For all the expertise he shared with immense generosity and in friendship, I am most grateful. The staff of the Marciana Library and of the State Archive in Venice, where much of my thesis was written, deserves my special thanks. From the State Archive, I owe my sincere gratitude to the Director Dr. Raffaele Santoro, to the Vice-director Dr. Piero Scarpa, and to the Director of the Manuscript Room Dr. Michela Dal Borgo for facilitating so much of my work. Dr. Alessandra Sambo has been helpful many times, as well as Drs. Paola Benussi, Alessandra Schiavon, Franco Rossi, and Edoardo Giuffrida. The Department of Conservation, Restoration, and Scanning has been simply wonderful, always willing to grant any request in reasonable time. Special thanks go to the Director Giovanni Caniato, Olivo Bondesan, and Ciro Esposito. I also wish to thank the ladies of the Department of Photoreproduction for their kindness and support. Many thanks are due also to all the archivists and the personnel at the manuscript distribution desk. From the Marciana Library – probably the most evocative place in Venice where Renaissance culture truly revives – I would like to thank Dr. Maria Luisa Corsa from the Department of Rare Early Printed Books, and Dr. Susy Marcon from the Department of Manuscripts. I have presented the preliminary results of this project at various conferences and I have benefitted from the stimulating discussions and comments audiences offered me. Among these scholars, I owe a special thanks to Drs. Renzo Baldasso, Federica ix Ciccolella, Pamela Smith, and Stephen Johnston. I also want to extend my gratitude to all my professors of the Nautical Archaeology Program at Texas A&M University who have encouraged me to pursue archival research for the past four years and contributed so much to my expertise in investigating manuscripts. My professors and fellow graduate students at the Nautical Archaeology Program, my friends in Italy and in College Station have shared, in one way or another, the long process of researching and writing this thesis. My most heartfelt and profound gratitude goes to my wonderful parents and to my brother Manuel for their warm support, unfailing encouragement, and unconditional love throughout my life in all of my pursuits. As far back as I can remember, they instilled in me their love and passion for books; Cicero was indeed correct in saying: “What happy family books make!” For being the pillars of my formative years and, most of all, for contributing so much to become the person I am today, I could not find for my parents better words than those of the humanist Vergerio I wrote in the dedication.