Image: Canal, Giovanni Antonio (Canaletto) - Return of the Bucentoro to the Molo on Ascension Day, c. 1733-4. Royal Collection Buckingham Palace

Description: The Bucintoro, after the ceremony for the Sposalizio del Mar, the Wedding of the Sea, held on Ascension Day and thus otherwise known as the Festa della Sensa. Venice’s principal annual ceremony was of uncertain origin: it commemorated, according to one tradition, the sailing on Ascension Day in the year 1000 of a war fleet to assert Venetian power along the Istrian coast; according to another, the gift of a ring by Pope Alexander III to Doge Sebastiano Ziani - the greatest of Venice’s medieval doges - to sanction Venice’s authority in the Adriatic, in gratitude for Ziani’s support for the Pope against the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa (Pope and Emperor were reconciled in San Marco on Ascension Day 1177). The Bucintoro was rowed in procession out of the lagoon into the Adriatic, where the Doge cast a ring blessed by the Patriarch into the waters, symbolising the marriage of Venice to the sea. The Bucintoro depicted here was to be the last, constructed in 1728-9 and crowded with gilded wooden allegorical sculptures by Antonio Corradini. After the fall of Venice to Napoleon’s army in 1797, the upper part of the Bucintoro was burnt to recover the gold, after which the Austrians armed the hulk with cannon and placed it to guard the entrance to the lagoon. It was finally broken up in its birthplace, the Arsenale, in 1824. The view is taken from some way out in the Bacino, directly in front of the Zecca, the south façade of which is seen to the left together with the Libreria. Beyond is the Campanile, shortened to fit it into the painting (four small windows serving the staircase running up the shaft should be visible). In the Piazzetta is the marquee of the Ascension Day market, clearly regarded as an integral part of the festival. Beyond are the Torre dell’Orologio and the south flank of San Marco, with the western dome reduced in size and moved eastwards to be largely obscured by the Palazzo Ducale. To the right of the Palazzo Ducale (much diminished in width) are the Prigioni and Palazzo Dandolo (today the Hotel Danieli); moored to the left of the Bucintoro with its oars raised is the fusta, the Doge’s usual single-masted galleon.
Title: Venice: The Bacino di S. Marco on Ascension Day Alternative title(s): The Return of the Bucintoro to the Molo, Venice 
Credit: Web Gallery of Art:   Image  Info about artwork
Author: Canaletto
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No