This text examines changing representations of Venice and the Venetian Republic in Britain from the 17th century until the collapse of the Serene Republic in 1797, a period in which Venice was an ideological reference point and a potent cultural symbol. In the British political imagination, Venice became an important cultural site where politics and culture converged. This approach incorporates visual culture, festivity and ritual, history and historical myth that illuminates the relationship between political ideology and cultural production.