| The Doge on the Bucintoro near the Riva di Sant'Elena | |
|---|---|
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| Artist | Francesco Guardi |
| Year | c. 1775–1780 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 66 cm × 100 cm (26 in × 39 in) |
| Location | Louvre,Paris |
The Doge on the Bucintoro near the Riva di Sant'Elena (also known asThe Departure of the Bucentaur for the Ascension Day Ceremony, and other similar titles) is an oil painting on canvas by theVenetian painterFrancesco Guardi. It was painted between 1775 and 1780, and is now in theLouvre in Paris.
This work is one of a series of twelve paintings representing theSolennità dogali (TheDoge'sSolemnities), in which the artist has faithfully copied the scenes drawn byGiovanni Antonio Canal and engraved byGiambattista Brustolon to commemorate the festivities at the coronation of theDogeAlvise Giovanni Mocenigo in 1763. This has led to some confusion, and the canvases were formerly attributed toCanaletto, though their style was quite unmistakably that of Guardi.[1]
This painting and another in the series represent theFesta della Sensa, the most sumptuous of allVenetian festivals. It took place each year onAscension Day, the anniversary of the setting out ofDogePietro II Orseolo's expedition which achieved the conquest ofDalmatia in c. 1000. It was also a celebration of theTreaty of Venice of 1177 between the DogeSebastiano Ziani,Pope Alexander III and theHoly Roman Emperor,Frederick Barbarossa. In a magnificent state barge known as theBucentaur (in Italian,Bucintoro), the Doge visited theLido and celebrated theMarriage of the Sea ceremony ofVenice with theAdriatic Sea, by casting a ring into the waters.[2]
This particular canvas shows the Bucentaur leaving Venice. Another in the series represents the Doge going to hearMass atSan Nicolò al Lido.
This painting entered the Louvre as a result of a confiscation in 1797 of the Count Joseph François Xavier de Pestre deSeneffe 1797's collection. It was selected by the Louvre, with eleven other paintings in the same series, at theHôtel de Nesle; it was then sent to theMuséum de Toulouse (now a museum of natural history), which handed it back to the Louvre in 1952 in exchange for a portrait byIngres and another painting by Guardi.[3]
Under theFirst French Empire, the series was broken up: seven remained in the Louvre, one was sent toBrussels, two toNantes, one toToulouse and one toGrenoble. The return in 1952 of the Toulouse painting to the Louvre, through the aforementioned exchange, has been the first step in an attempt to reassemble the set and display them in a special room.[4] Today ten paintings of the series are exhibited in the Louvre.[5][6]
