Chapter 11, "Opera Buffa" Summary

Opera Buffa tells the story of the bidding war to rebuild the Fenice. Many designers are coming in from out of town to submit bids for rebuilding the Fenice. Gianni Agnelli is one designer who comes to town. Berendt recognizes him when he's heading to Saint Mark's in a water vaporetto and a taxi falls in behind him. The telltale sign that this was Gianni Agnelli is the fact that Agnelli wears his watch over his shirt cuff. Agnelli is known to the public as "L'Avvocato", the lawyer. A decade earlier, Agnelli had assembled a team to restore the Palazzo Grassi. He has assembled the same team to work on the rebuilding of the Fenice. The team includes Gae Aulenti from Milan and Antonio Foscari from Venice.

Berendt meets with Foscari to discuss the plans for the...