Because of its location directly in front of the Porta della Carta, the most important entry to the Doge's Palace, the loggetta was also used from 1569 onward as a sentry post to provide security for the assembled nobles during the meetings of the Great Council: three procurators were to be present, assisted by an armed squadron of workers from the Arsenal, the government shipyard, in order to counter any popular assault and respond to any fire.

A similar structure was also attached to the building of the Camerlenghi at Rialto as a meeting place for nobles to discuss business affairs in the commercial centre of the city.

Although it was attached to the Church of San Basso, it was under the jurisdiction of the procurators of Saint Mark de supra who were responsible specifically for the public buildings around the square.

Visible in La Piazzetta di San Marco (c. 1487), attributed to Lazzaro Bastiani, it was a lean-to wooden structure, partially enclosed, that consisted in a triple arcade supported on four stone columns.

The building of the loggetta was a part of the renovatio urbis,[4] the ambitious programme of architectural renewal, begun under Doge Andrea Gritti, that was aimed at reaffirming Venice's international prestige after the earlier defeat at Agnadello during the War of the League of Cambrai and the subsequent Peace of Bologna which sanctioned Habsburg hegemony on the Italian peninsula at the end of the War of the League of Cognac.

It amounted to the transformation of Saint Mark's Square from an antiquated medieval town centre with food vendors, money changers, and even latrines into an imposing public forum in emulation of ancient Rome.

Specifically, the loggetta was modelled along the lines of ancient triumphal arches and was intended as a monumental backdrop to provide a sense of grandeur to public ceremonies.

Many of the key architectural elements, including the paired columns and niches with statues, had in fact already been employed by Sansovino for the temporary wooden arches that he designed and erected in Florence in 1514 for the ceremonial entry of Pope Leo X into the city the previous year.

[5][3][6] Although the small brick structure was quickly erected between 1538 and 1540, in part with building materials recuperated from the old Church of San Francesco della Vigna, concerns about the magnitude of the overall architectural programme (which included the library) and the associated expenses for the coffers of the procurators of Saint Mark de supra led to a brief suspension of work and the decision to simplify the design by leaving the brick of the side walls exposed.

[9] But the specific choice of composite capitals, combined with a convex pulvinated frieze, was probably inspired from the tomb of Pope Adrian VI in Santa Maria dell'Anima.

These were designed by Sansovino on the basis of an allegorical programme conceived by the Procurator Antonio Cappello with the intention of glorifying the Republic and exalting its intrinsic virtues in a public space.

[5][13] The architect's son, Francesco Sansovino, elaborates the significance of the statues in both L'Arte oratoria secondo i modi della lingua volgare (1546)[14] and Venetia, città nobilissima et singolare (1581),[15] specifying in the latter publication that he obtained the explanation directly from his father.

1653–1663 In conjunction with reparations made necessary after lightning struck the bell tower, Baldassare Longhena, the consultant architect and buildings manager for the procurators of Saint Mark de supra from 1640 to 1682, replaced the five steps in front of the loggetta and the external benches with a wide terrace and balustrade.

[21] 1733–1750 Antonio Gai realized the elaborate bronze gate (1733–1734) with the allegorical figures of Vigilance (on the left with the lighted lamp and the crane holding a pebble with its foot) and Liberty (on the right with the pileus on a staff).

Important sources of rental income for the procurators of Saint Mark de supra, they were rebuilt in 1550 alongside Sansovino's structure and existed until 1873 when they were finally demolished.