Jacopo Sansovino, resident in Venice since the 1527 sack of Rome, had in 1529 become chief architect and superintendent of properties (Protomaestro or Proto) to the Procurators of San Marco, making him one of the most influential artists in Venice.

The appointment had come with a salary of eighty ducats and an apartment near the clocktower in San Marco.

Within a year his salary had been raised to one hundred and eight ducats per year.

His masterworks embody prominent structures and buildings in central Venice found near Piazza San Marco, specifically the highly rusticated Zecca (public mint), the highly decorated Loggetta and its sculptures adjoining the Campanile, and various statues and reliefs for the Basilica of San Marco.

He also helpsrebuild a number of buildings, churches, palaces, and institutional buildings including the churches of San Zulian, San Francesco della Vigna, San Martino, San Geminiano (now destroyed), Santo Spirito in Isola, and the church of the Incurabili.

Among palaces and buildings are the Scuola Grande della Misericordia (early plans), Ca' de Dio, Palazzo Dolfin Manin, Palazzo Corner, Palazzo Moro, and the Fabbriche Nuove di Rialto.

Work begins on the Zecca in 1536: Sansovino derives his design for the fortress-like building from Rome’s first-century Porto Maggiore.