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History of the Gondola The evolution of the gondola is of particular interest. The word "gondolum" first appears in the written record in the year 1094, in a letter to the people of Loreo from the Doge (elected leader of the Venetian Republic) Vitale Falier. From this we know that there was a boat called a gondola in the 11th cent., which is assumed to be used for passengers, and likely had a similar shape and method of construction as those of the 15th cent., about which we have a clearer understanding. From a survey of the artistic record, we see that the gondola emerged as a more distinctive boat in the 15th cent. Though the design and construction are highly refined at this point, the 15th cent. gondola has a fairly different shape from that of the contemporary gondola. The main differences are that the sheer line is not as curved in those of the 15th cent., and they had a greater portion of the length of their bottom submerged. Also, there is no distinctive ironwork or other decorative features at this time. The main source of information that we have for the gondolas of the 15th cent. are paintings of Carpaccio, Mansueti and Bellini, all from the1490's and all having to do with a miracle surrounding a relic of the Cross. Each of these paintings give detailed depictions of the gondolas of that period, and they each agree with the others with regard to the shape which the gondola had. Carpaccio's representation of "The Miracle of the Relic of the Cross", of 1494, is most significant in that it is the oldest detailed painting in existence of the gondola, and it shows the various ways in which the oar is used to maneuver the boat. This appears to be virtually the same as the contemporary method of Venetian rowing. By the 16th cent., the gondola took on the sort of Baroque ornamentation which the architecture, art work, and music also encompassed. It was in the 16th cent. that ornamental ironwork on both ends, called a ferro, began to emerge, and the coverings for the passengers, or feltze, also became more ornate. This trend toward adding more ornamentation continued until the Doge handed down a decree, in the17th cent., requiring that all gondolas be painted black, so as not to encourage the glorification of wealth. Only special gondolas for dignitaries and foreign diplomats could be highly decorative, according to this decree. The paintings of Canaletto give us a nearly photographic representation of these special gondolas in The Reception of the Ambassador in the Doge's Palace. Another important evolutionary aspect of the 16th cent. gondola is the increase in the amount of rocker of the bottom and the broadening of the stern section. This reduced the length of the wetted surface-making the gondola easier to maneuver-and raised the position of the gondolier, for improved visibility. During the 17th cent., the gondola saw its greatest popularity, as the Venetian Republic was just coming out of its period of greatest power. The number of gondolas that existed during this time is estimated to be around 10,000, compared to the less than 500 which are in use today. As the ferro, the decorative iron work on the front of the gondola, is one of the most characteristic features about the gondola, it is worth looking into regarding its evolution. Originally, the ferri (plural) were the same at both ends of the boat. The stern ferro shrunk in size, and today is often omitted altogether, while the bow ferro increased in size, to serve the purpose of counterbalancing the weight of the gondolier. The ferro, as the name suggests, was originally made out of iron, and it weighed about 45 pounds, but many are currently made from aluminium and are a little lighter. From a survey of the works of art of the past five centuries which have gondolas as their subject, one notices a very clear evolution of the ferro. The earliest ferri have a small, slightly curved ax-like section at the top, with various numbers of small spikes protruding from the front. With the progression of time, one sees that this small ax-like section increases in size and becomes more curved, while the little spikes get longer and longer. There is a fair amount of mythology that Venetians like to tell regarding the contemporary shape of the ferro, but it is clear that the modern ferro is simply a result of an evolutionary process. The forcola, or oar post, has its own evolution which is as important to the gondola as the water is. Starting off as a simple notched board inserted into the gunwale, it took its final form in the 18th cent. It is worthy to point out that the forcole (plural) and oars are made by special craftsmen called remeri. This has been a separate branch of artisans at least since the 13th cent. The forcola itself is a fantastic thing. It stands alone as a beautiful work of sculpture-with its fluid double-curve and intriguing shape-and, in fact, many of the forcole which are made today are sold as sculpture. However, one very interesting aspect about this beautiful work of art is that it may resemble an abstract form, but it is actually 100% function. There is no surface or contour of the forcola which does not have a purpose. The forcola can be compared to the gear shift lever of an automobile, with basically five places on which the oar can pivot for various maneuvers: one for setting the gondola in motion, one for the power stroke and turning to the left, one for turning to the right, one for slowing down, and one for rowing backwards. Getting back to the evolution of the gondola itself: the Government of Venice presented a gondola to a Northern European court in Stockholm, in the mid 18th cent. The boat was meticulously measured and a scaled architectural drawing was made, in 1768, by Fredrik Henrik af Chapman, one of the forthmost naval architects of the Western World. This is the oldest drawing of its kind which we have of the gondola. It enables us to know the exact shape of the boat at that time, and it confirms the observations made from paintings about the gondolas of the period. These observations are: that the 18th cent. gondola has about the same dimensions as the contemporary gondola (however the two ends are not as pronounced) and the 18th cent. gondola is perfectly symmetrical. The gondola kept this shape until near the end of the 19th cent. when Domenico Tramontin, a revolutionary squerarolo, perfected the element of asymmetry. At this point the gondola reached the peak of its development. This was the product of a long evolution which married the oarsman, the style of rowing, and the boat. Ironically, this perfection came about at almost the same time as the first steam-powered vaporetto appeared in Venice. This is the same irony that met the perfection of the great sailing ships upon the invention of the steam-powered cargo ship. Though the arrival of the vaporetti was not very popular among the 2,000 public gondoliers of the time, their attempts to keep the vaporetti out of Venice-including one particular strike when the Queen of Italy came for a visit-were not enough to keep the true purpose of the gondola alive and well. Now, the only remnant of the pre-vaporetti use of the gondola are the half-dozen traghetti which make their crossings on the Grand Canal, carrying passengers for a mere 700 lire (40 cents) each. How I Became a Gondola Builder