“Making love is nothing but the expression of lusting for food” Giacomo Casanova, 1725-1798 PART 2
The city became a hub, a trade centre, a city where you could find ordinary goods together with sophisticated and rare ones, manufactured by highly skilled artisans. Western and Eastern influences found in the city a fertile ground where it was possible to develop a unique style, the Venetian one, modelled on a Western base and enriched with Byzantine, Islamic, Spanish influences. For sure it looked “bizarre” to purists, but it was extremely attractive to the eyes, with such a taste for overall decoration, the elaborate interlaced branches all around the church portals, the colorful mosaics, the gilt tips of the Gothic arches with a Moorish touch.
Is it possible to define a “Venetian way of seeing the world”? Well, for sure local merchants needed foreigners, so the city developed a culture of tolerance and acceptance, although foreigners were supposed to accept Venetian strict regulations, under the control of the proper police. But they could improve their lifestyle in Venice, found a good place where to stay, raise a family and be happy. Which is the largest canvas in the Grand Council Hall? The Heaven by Tintoretto, and surely the Doge’s Palace was neither a church nor a monastery, but Venice was supposed to embody, in the whole world, the Heaven on earth with the Doge staying at the bottom. Happiness was a goal everybody was working for………
Not only businessmen had to be flexible and deal with foreigners, but also those who worked in the Arts, like painters, comedians, musicians who compared themselves with colleagues coming from abroad, since Venice was an international stage which played an important role in a successful artistic career. This happened especially in the age of Casanova when trade was declining, while visual arts benefited from the latest European trends, many intellectuals and painters travelled and made their reputation throughout Europe (see Francesco Algarotti, Sebastiano Ricci, Bernardo Bellotto, Canaletto etc.).
Venice was renowned as the European capital of pleasure due to the sumptuous Carnival, but above all for freedom, in terms of free thinking and licentious costumes,a secular attitude towards life and human relationships. 
