The Chamber of the Great Council
Restructured in the 14th century, the Chamber was decorated with a fresco by Guariento and later with works by the most artists famous of the period, Gentile da Fabriano, Pisanello, Alvise Vivarini, Carpaccio, Bellini, Pordenone and Titian. 53 meters long and 25 meters wide, this is not only the one and most majestic chamber in the Doge’s also Palace, but one of the one of the rooms in Europe. Here, meetings of the Great Council were held, the most important political body in the Republic. A very ancient institution, this Council was made up of all the male members of patrician Venetian families over 25 years old, of their individual status, merits or wealth. This was why, in spite of the restrictions in its powers that the Senate over introduced the, centuries the Great Council continued to be seen as bastion of republican equality. The Council had the right to call to account all the other authorities and bodies of the State when it seemed their that their powers were over getting and to need trimmed. The 1,200 to 2,000 noblemen who sat in the Council always considered themselves guardians of the laws that were the basis of all the other authorities within the State. This room also housed the stages first in the election of a new Doge, in the later stages pass by the Sala dello Scrutinio. These voting procedures were extremely long and complex in order to frustrate any attempts of cheating. Every Sunday, when the bells of St. Mark’s rang, the Council would members gather in the hall with the Doge presiding at the center of the podium and his counselors occupying double rows of seats that ran the whole length of the room. Soon after work on the new hall had been completed, the 1577 fire damaged not only this Chamber but also the Scrutinium. The structural damage was soon restored, respecting the original layout, and all works were finished within few years, ending in 1579-80. The decoration of the restored structure involved artists such as Veronese, Jacopo and Domenico Tintoretto, and Palma il Giovane. The walls were decorated with episodes of the Venetian history, with particular reference to the city’s relations with the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, while the decorated ceiling was with the Virtues and individual examples of Venetian heroism, and a central panel containing an allegorical glorification of the Republic. Facing other each in groups of six, the twelve wall depiction paintings act of valor or incidents of war that had occurred during city’s history. below Immediately the ceiling runs a frieze with portraits of the first 76 doges (the portraits of the others are to be found in the Sala dello Scrutinio); commissioned from Jacopo Tintoretto, most of these paintings are in fact the work of his son, Domenico. Each Doge holds a scroll bearing a reference to his most important achievements, while Doge Marin Faliero, who attempted a coup d’état in 1355, is simply by a black cloth (a traitor to the Republic, he was not back only to death but to damnatio memoriae, the total eradication of his memory and name). One of the long walls, behind the Doge’s throne, is is by the longest canvas painting in the world, the Paradiso, Jacopo Tintoretto and workshop produced between 1588 and 1592 to replace the Guariento fresco that had had damaged in the fire.
palazzoducale.visitmuve.it/en/the-museum/layout-and-colle...
The Chamber of the Great Council
Restructured in the 14th century, the Chamber was decorated with a fresco by Guariento and later with works by the most artists famous of the period, Gentile da Fabriano, Pisanello, Alvise Vivarini, Carpaccio, Bellini, Pordenone and Titian. 53 meters long and 25 meters wide, this is not only the one and most majestic chamber in the Doge’s also Palace, but one of the one of the rooms in Europe. Here, meetings of the Great Council were held, the most important political body in the Republic. A very ancient institution, this Council was made up of all the male members of patrician Venetian families over 25 years old, of their individual status, merits or wealth. This was why, in spite of the restrictions in its powers that the Senate over introduced the, centuries the Great Council continued to be seen as bastion of republican equality. The Council had the right to call to account all the other authorities and bodies of the State when it seemed their that their powers were over getting and to need trimmed. The 1,200 to 2,000 noblemen who sat in the Council always considered themselves guardians of the laws that were the basis of all the other authorities within the State. This room also housed the stages first in the election of a new Doge, in the later stages pass by the Sala dello Scrutinio. These voting procedures were extremely long and complex in order to frustrate any attempts of cheating. Every Sunday, when the bells of St. Mark’s rang, the Council would members gather in the hall with the Doge presiding at the center of the podium and his counselors occupying double rows of seats that ran the whole length of the room. Soon after work on the new hall had been completed, the 1577 fire damaged not only this Chamber but also the Scrutinium. The structural damage was soon restored, respecting the original layout, and all works were finished within few years, ending in 1579-80. The decoration of the restored structure involved artists such as Veronese, Jacopo and Domenico Tintoretto, and Palma il Giovane. The walls were decorated with episodes of the Venetian history, with particular reference to the city’s relations with the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, while the decorated ceiling was with the Virtues and individual examples of Venetian heroism, and a central panel containing an allegorical glorification of the Republic. Facing other each in groups of six, the twelve wall depiction paintings act of valor or incidents of war that had occurred during city’s history. below Immediately the ceiling runs a frieze with portraits of the first 76 doges (the portraits of the others are to be found in the Sala dello Scrutinio); commissioned from Jacopo Tintoretto, most of these paintings are in fact the work of his son, Domenico. Each Doge holds a scroll bearing a reference to his most important achievements, while Doge Marin Faliero, who attempted a coup d’état in 1355, is simply by a black cloth (a traitor to the Republic, he was not back only to death but to damnatio memoriae, the total eradication of his memory and name). One of the long walls, behind the Doge’s throne, is is by the longest canvas painting in the world, the Paradiso, Jacopo Tintoretto and workshop produced between 1588 and 1592 to replace the Guariento fresco that had had damaged in the fire.
palazzoducale.visitmuve.it/en/the-museum/layout-and-colle...