art in venice, 1400–1600 797
with Fides, the christian faith, appearing in the smoke that is ascending
to heaven. inscriptions on a sketch by Veronese contain a reference to
the theological concept of justification, a Protestant confession that was
rejected. Upon a third were the inseparable Mars and neptune (robur
imperii). Previously (between 1554 and 1566), Jacopo Sansovino had super-
vised the completion of the colossal statues of Mars and neptune, the
Giganti for the eponymous staircase in the court of the Doge’s Palace. the
Virtues and virtuous heroes of antiquity complete the program.
the right of the republic to cities and lands acquired with or without
military power was frequently questioned, and once acquired, sovereignty
was always defended by force of arms. Lions of St Mark (as leone andante)
such as the one by Vittore carpaccio, standing with their paws simulta-
neously upon dry land (the terra firma) and in the waters of the lagoon,
became eloquent symbols. the allegedly voluntary submission to supe-
rior Venetian rule (the libertà veneziana) and the subjugation by military
means are central themes in the Palace of the Doge. the tradition that
the republic ruled the sea by right of the bestowal of the ring (1177) by
Pope Alexander iii coexisted with an insistence upon the original right
to rule. the paintings recall the supposedly voluntary submission (as in
the central panel on the ceiling of the Maggior Consiglio) as well as—and
this more frequently—the military conflicts. tintoretto depicted domin-
ion over the sea in the central picture of the ceiling of the Sala del Senato.
Venetia is enthroned in the midst of the gods of antiquity high above the
sea out of which the inhabitants bring her gifts. Paolo Sarpi convincingly
argued that it was not wise to justify a claim to rulership with dubious
archival testimony.
the succession of the doges, uninterrupted since the early 9th century,
was documented ad oculos by means of successive portraits in the friezes
beneath the ceilings of the Sala dello Scrutinio and the Great council.
the series of devotional images of the doges divided up between various
chambers probably began with Giovanni Mocenigo (1478–85) (London,
national Gallery). Giovanni Bellini’s painting of the doges Marco and
Agostino Barbarigo (1486–1501) kneeling before the Madonna (Murano,
S. Pietro Martire) appears to have originated from the Sala dello Scudo.
For public portraits of doges, kneeling was stipulated by the election
capitulation (the promissione ducale). At the same time, liberties were
taken by the painters within the parameters of this type of picture. titian’s
Fede depicts the kneeling doge, Antonio Grimani (doge from 1521–23), in
rapture before the cross while the city’s patron turns around as if he has
been suddenly surprised by the heavenly vision. When one recalls the