Editing Piazza San Marco (section)

===Napoleon and later (1797 onwards)===
Venice surrendered to Napoleon on 12 May 1797. By 4 June a "Tree of Liberty" had been placed in the Piazza.<ref>Plant pp. 9 & 29 and fig. 14. Norwich pp. 630–633</ref> Soon afterwards stonemasons were sent out on the orders of the Municipality to destroy images of the winged lion, which was seen as a symbol of Venetian independence and aristocratic rule. On the Porta della Carta in the Piazzetta the head of Doge Francesco Foscari was removed as well as that of the lion before which he was kneeling. (They were replaced by copies later in the century).<ref>Plant p. 27</ref> The French ordered the [[Horses of Saint Mark|four horses of San Marco]] to be taken down and sent to Paris together with the bronze lion on the column in the Piazzetta. They were removed in December 1797.<ref>Plant pp. 36–37</ref>

In January 1798 under the Treaty of Campoformio the Austrians moved into Venice in place of the French. This first Austrian ascendancy lasted from 1798 to 19 January 1806, when the French moved back after Napoleon's victories at [[Battle of Austerlitz|Austerlitz]] and [[Jena]] and his establishment of the kingdom of Italy in 1804.<ref>Plant pp. 43 & 47</ref> Napoleon appointed his stepson [[Eugène de Beauharnais]] as his viceroy and in 1807 it was ordered that the Procuratie Nuove were to become the royal palace for his occupation.<ref>Plant p. 47</ref> Napoleon himself paid a ceremonial visit to Venice later in 1807, landing at the Piazzetta on his way to the new palace.<ref>Plant p. 56</ref>

[[File:Venice Piazza San Marco.JPG|thumb|right|upright=1.2|The west end of the Piazza showing the Ala Napoleonica]]
It was decided that the new palace should extend across the whole of the west end of the Piazza and this made it necessary to demolish the church of San Geminiano, rebuilt by Sansovino, and also the buildings on either side, Sansovino's extension of the Procuratie Vecchie to the north and part of the Procuratie Nuove to the south.<ref>Plant p. 66</ref> The original architect was [[Giovanni Antonio Antolini|Gianni Antolini]] from Milan, but the new building caused much controversy and in 1810 he was replaced by Giovanni Soli from Modena. The present building, known as the Ala Napoleonica (the Napoleonic Wing) was built between 1810 and 1813. The façade of the two lower storeys is in the manner of the Procuratie Nuove, but the upper storey, containing the ceremonial entrance and the ballroom, has no windows or arches and is decorated with statues and sculpture in low relief. In the centre there was originally to have been a statue of Napoleon as Jupiter with the imperial arms above, but this was abandoned after the fall of Napoleon in 1814 and there is now no focal point on the west side of the Piazza.<ref>Plant pp. 65–71</ref>

After the abdication of Napoleon the Austrians re-occupied Venice (under the [[Treaty of Fontainebleau (1814)|Treaty of Fontainebleau]]) in April 1814. The Austrian chancellor, Prince [[Metternich]], was instrumental in arranging the return to Venice of the four horses of St Mark and the lion from the Piazzetta. The horses were re-installed in front of the Basilica on 13 December 1815, but the bronze lion had been badly broken and had to be repaired. It was placed back on its pillar in April 1816.<ref>Plant pp. 81–82</ref>