The Bucintoro Festival of Venice
Francesco Guardi (Italian, 1712–1793)
1780-1793
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- width 171 cm, height 132 cm, height 98 cm, width 138 cm
- Culture
- Italian
- Museum
- SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
- Rights
- Public Domain Mark: SMK waives its rights in this photograph, as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed
View at the SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
About this work
On the Canale di San Marco the barge of the Doge, Il Bucintoro, sails with its stem pointed towards the Riva degli Schiavoni. The pink façade of the Doge’s Palace and the bell tower of St Mark’s Church serve as clear points of reference. On the barge the doge is joined by the ministers of state, older aristocratic representatives from the municipal government, and prominent foreign guests. The waters are crowded by countless gondolas accompanying the distinguished party to the Lido to celebrate the doge’s annual ritual nuptials with the ocean on Ascension Day. A peculiar tradition This peculiar tradition was founded back when Venice was a leading international commercial town. During the ritual, the doge casts a golden ring into the ocean with the words: "In segno di eterno dominio, Noi, Doge di Venezia, ti sposiamo, o mare!" (As a sign of eternal supremacy, we, the Doge of Venice, do marry thou, O Sea!) Francesco Guardi lived and worked in Venice his entire life and made its many festivities and everyday life and manners his favourite theme.
