Doges and Dogaresse at the Doge’s Palace

Dogaressa

In the rooms where there was the apartment of the Doge, until June 30th you can see a selection of portraits of Doges and Dogaresse. If the Doge was the representative of the Venetian Republic, appointed for life by the Great Council, the Dogaressa, the wife of the Doge, not always enjoyed public tributes and honors. It usually depended on the personal wealth of the family.

Palazzo Ducale 4

Portrait of the Doge’s wife Elisabetta Querini Valier, end of the 17th century, unknown artist

Palazzo Ducale 8

Doge Sebastiano Venier, Andrea Vicentino, 1577

Through the lavishing rooms of the Palace, refurbished after a fire in the late 15th century, and still maintaining most of the original decoration, you meet men and women who were among the principal actors of the history of Venice.

Palazzo Ducale

Paintings show other important symbols of Venice’s past glory like battles, lions, geographic maps.

Palazzo Ducale 9

Finally, a painting of the 19th century reminds the abdication in 1797 of the last Doge, Ludovico Manin, before the French army of Napoleon entered the city.

Abdicazione Manin

The Deposition of Doge Manin, 19th-century unknown artist.

Many hundred years of history, worth to be known.

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Venetian Fortresses in the Mediterannean

03 Map of the city of Canea (Chania) on Crete. 16th century, ink and watercolor drawing on parchment.

Deutscher Text am Ende

This small exhibition curated by the director of the Doge’s Palace, Camillo Tonini, and by Diana Cristante, offers the extraordinary privilege to see original drawings on parchment and on paper made between the 16th and the 18th century of Venetian fortresses in the Mediterranean area.

Venice, besides being an extraordinarily wealthy and glamorous city, was also political and military power. The preservation of important outposts in the Mediterranean sea secured the routes of commercial convoys heading toward Alexandria in Egypt, to Constantinople, Cyprus, Haifa, and many other destinations.

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