Loggetta, Piazza San Marco: Overall view of facade at base of Campanile

Sansovino's major architectural contribution to Venice was in transforming the appearance of the Piazza S Marco through the planning of three buildings, the Zecca (public mint), the Library and the Loggetta. The Loggetta, at the base of the campanile, coincided with the initial phase of the Library and was clearly designed to complement it. Finished ca. 1542, it was the first of Sansovino's works completed in Venice, and it served as a manifesto of his architectural style. Its boxlike structure is embellished with polychrome marble, which compensates for its small scale, and the richness of its decoration was, as Aretino noted, appropriate for a meeting-place of the nobility. Sansovino also sculpted the bronze statues of gods for the Loggetta.