Contarini

One of the 12 Italian families who elected the first doge of Venice in 697. Its members included several doges (from Domenico (1043–73), who rebuilt St Mark's Church, to Alvise (1676–84)), men of letters, painters, statesmen, and soldiers (seven members of the family fought in the Battle of Lepanto).

Andrea Contarini, doge 1367–82, ended the war between Venice and Genoa by reconquering Chioggia. Gasparo Contarini (1483–1542), Bishop of Bologna and a diplomat, was made a cardinal by Pope Paul III in 1535. He was Venetian ambassador to the Diet of Worms in 1521, accompanying Charles V on his travels, and concluding the emperor's alliance with Venice in 1523. As papal legate at the Diet of Ratisbon in 1541, he tried to effect a reconciliation between Protestants and Catholics. Giovanni Contarini (1549–1605) was a Venetian painter of portraits and historical pictures.