Palazzo Ducale

Date: founded 9th century; expansion 14th-16th centuries; expanded interior decorations from 16th-17th centuries
Image View Description: Interior: View of Main Council Chamber
Material/Technique: stone
, Material/Technique: marble
, Material/Technique: brick
Work Type: architecture
Culture: Italian
Culture: Venetian
Location: Venice (Italy)
Notes: Restructured in the 14th century, the Chamber was decorated with a fresco by Guariento and later with works by the most famous artists of the period, including Gentile da Fabriano, Pisanello, Alvise Vivarini, Carpaccio, Bellini, Pordenone and Titian. Soon after work on the new hall had been completed, the 1577 fire damaged not only this Chamber but also the Sala dello Scrutinio. The structural damage was soon restored, respecting the original layout, and all works were finished within few years, ending in 1579-80. The decoration of the restored structure involved artists such as Veronese, Jacopo and Domenico Tintoretto, and Palma il Giovane. The walls were decorated with episodes of the Venetian history, with particular reference to the city's relations with the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, while the ceiling was decorated with the Virtues and individual examples of Venetian heroism, and a central panel containing an allegorical glorification of the Republic. Facing each other in groups of six, the twelve wall paintings depict acts of valor or incidents of war that had occurred during the city's history. Immediately below the ceiling runs a frieze with portraits of the first 76 doges (the portraits of the others are to be found in the Sala dello Scrutinio); commissioned from Jacopo Tintoretto, most of these paintings are in fact the work of his son, Domenico. One of the long walls, behind the Doge's throne, is occupied by one of the longest canvas painting in the world, the Paradiso, which Jacopo Tintoretto and workshop produced between 1588 and 1592 to replace the Guariento fresco that had been damaged in the fire.
Image Source: Photography by the Media Center for Art History, Department of Art History and Archaeology, © The Trustees of Columbia University
Photographer: Cassy Juhl
Record ID: ven_doge_sala_del_maggior_con_1


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