The Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale) was the official residence of the Doges and Venice 's chief magistrates. It was begun in the ninth century and rebuilt in the twelfth century under the Doge Ziani. Following destruction by fire it was partially rebuilt in the early fifteenth century, including the Sala de Maggior Consiglio facing the Bacino di San Marco. Again following fire, it was restored in the late sixteenth century. The main Venetian Gothic façade faces the Bacino de San Marco. It comprises a ground level arcade, each arch of which supports two arches in the loggia above. These terminate in typically Venetian Gothic quatrefoil roundels. They are, in turn, overlain by a massive masonry wall, patterned in white Istrian stone and pink marble from Verona. Its massiveness is punctuated by seven windows, the centre one balconied, and it is capped by ornamental marble crenellations. The façade continues around the corner to face the Piazzetta. Originally this façade extended as far as the seventh column. It was extended to the bascilica of St Mark's in the original style from 1424. The Porta della Carta, which provides entrance to the central cortile, was added in 1438. In the first volume of The Stones of Venice Ruskin described the Palazzo Ducale as the 'central building of the world' ( Works, 9.38). He also used the history of 'the building which at once consummates and embodies the entire system of the Gothic architecture of Venice' ( Works, 10.327) as evidence in his political and architectural histories of Venice and in dating the commencement of the city's decline in 1424 ( Works, 10.352n). He made a detailed study of its external architectural details. This included the sculptures of the three exposed external angles which he named for their iconography the Fig-tree angle, the Vine-angle, and the Judgement angle. This study also included the thirty-six capitals of the lower arcade, where he compared the Renaissance work of the Piazzetta façade unfavourably with the Gothic work of that facing the Bacino.