[2] Formenton's idea involved building completely in wood, but this proposal was immediately abandoned, in favour of a host of Venetian and Lombard stonemasons and marble from Botticino.

[4] Much of the driving force behind the construction of the Piazza and the Palazzo was by the ruling Venetians, and there are inspirations, particularly in the use of white stone, roof design and the upper windows that stem from Venice.

These hosted the important cycle of the thirty Caesars, twenty-four of which were sculpted by Gasparo Cairano, the pre-eminent exponent of sculpture in Renaissance Brescia, and six by Tamagnino.

The second level, corresponding to the late sixteenth century, houses large pilasters framing big windows in series, each corresponding to the arch of the loggia below, and encompassing the four faces of the building.

The original roof made of wood covered with lead sheets, in the shape of a boat's hull, was destroyed in a fire in 1575, in which three paintings by Titian were also lost.

The entrance at street level was another work by Gasparo Cairano;[9] it contains a plaque from 1177 a conviction for treason and perjury, taken from the basilica of San Pietro de Dom.

[10] Entering here, the Stefano Lamberti portal of 1552 is visible, flanked by columns and two fountains in Botticino marble by Nicolò da Grado, and introducing the Antonio Tagliaferri staircase of 1876.

Cesare Bertolotti added the Mercury and Venus on a lunette on the left wall of the stairs, while Gaetano Cresseri accomplished Rome Triumphant in the ceiling of the atrium.