Venice, Italy: San Marco: Doge's Palace: Higher Council Hall
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Authors
Sheppard, Beth M.
Issue Date
May 22, 2017
Type
Image
Language
Keywords
Italy , Venice , Venezia , San Marco , Doge's Palace , Higher Council Hall , Sala del Maggior Consiglio , Painted Ceilings , Gilded Ceilings , Italian High Renaissance Paintings , Venetian Paintings , Allegorical Paintings
Alternative Title
Abstract
Description
The photo shows the Higher Council Hall (in Italian: Sala del Maggior Consiglio) within the Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale), which is located in the San Marco district on the island of Venice, Italy. Venice (Venezia) is a city in northeastern Italy that is built on a group of 126 islands separated by open water and canals, linked through 472 bridges. The historical island city is home to only 51K people, but a very popular tourist destination with about 60K tourists per day. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is renowned for its beauty, architecture, and artwork. The Doge (chief magistrate) of Venice was the supreme authority of the Republic of Venice when this palace was built in 1340. The Higher Council Hall was the room where the most important legislative body of the Venetian State, the Maggior Consiglio, gathered to deliberate. A major fire in 1577 did extensive damage to the room's architecture, fittings, and artworks. The ceiling was redecorated as a sequence of large panels with oil paintings on canvas between elaborate gilded frames. Three great paintings are in the center and twelve at the sides, with monochromes filling in spaces between these. A number of famous painters of the day worked on the ceiling paintings.
Citation
Publisher
License
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0