792 wolfgang wolters
of fellow brethren, representing the scuole, kneeling opposite the patron
saint. restrictions like those for the doge’s portrait did not exist. the
marked self-confidence of someone like tommaso rangone was commen-
surate with tintoretto’s, as he portrayed rangone as one of the protago-
nists dressed in robes of office in the legend of St Mark. the presumptuous
message was only too well understood by rangone’s successor, who asked
tintoretto to overpaint the portraits—a task which the painter, ever ready
for new commissions, would have been eager to take on. comparable self-
representations are also found in paintings in the government and admin-
istration chambers—not just in the Doge’s Palace—in which influential
officials were portrayed, for example, like kings at prayer. the wish to be
recognized and remembered in images was another uniting element in
Venetian society.
The StatePainters and sculptors obtained numerous commissions from the
government and administration, as attested by the Piazza, with its
buildings, but also by the administrative buildings on the rialto. the loss of
meaningful works, such as the paintings in the Doge’s Palace that burned
in 1574 and 1577, shifted the original emphasis. Up until the fire of 1577,
paintings by Pisanello, Giovanni Bellini, titian, Veronese, and tintoretto
were assembled like a gallery of Venetian masterworks in the Sala del
Maggior consiglio. titian’s Battle of Spoleto (delivered in 1538) was studied
by all and cited by many artists who wanted to paint battles. Outstanding
artistic value stood side by side with messages that encapsulated the
core statements of the written tradition. thus, Jacopo Sansovino’s bronze
figures of the Logetta (begun 1541) could also be understood from varying
perspectives. Memorable messages concerning the qualities of the republic
and elements of the “myth” stood alongside Sansovino’s artistic agenda.
Accordingly, Apollo’s form should be understood as a commitment to
raphael’s ideal of beauty, here to dolcezza (Dolce, 1557), and therefore
probably also as a distancing from the dominance of Michelangelo as a
standard and an orientation.
Whenever representatives of the state, as on the Logetta, chose expen-
sive bronze as a material, they were distancing themselves from tradi-
tions that characterized the city. istrian stone or marble were obviously
considered less “precious” materials for sculptural work. examples include
the flagstaff bases in front of S. Marco from 1506 (most likely designed