Restored from 1982 to 1985 with Save Venice general funds.

Following the disastrous fire of 1577, the Venetian Senate announced a competition for a picture of the Coronation of the Virgin in Paradise to replace a fresco by Guariento (painted around 1365) in the Sala del Maggior Consiglio, the great council hall of the Doge’s Palace. Although ruined, the fresco was not totally destroyed, for its remains were uncovered in the early twentieth century when the present canvas was removed for restoration. The commission for the new painting was awarded jointly to Paolo Veronese and Francesco Bassano, but Veronese died in 1588; the commission then passed to Jacopo Tintoretto, who completed the enormous canvas with the help of workshop assistance led by his son Domenico.

The design is built on an expanding series of closely-packed, sweeping arcs of an almost geometric simplicity beneath an overlay of restless light and movement. Such concentric circles, here consisting of holy figures, symbolize the harmony of the celestial spheres. At the very pinnacle of this heavenly panorama is the crowning of Mary as Queen of Heaven by her radiant son. Approaching the Virgin on the left is the Archangel Gabriel, bearing lilies, as he is traditionally show in images of the Annunciation; balancing him to the right is the Archangel Michael, bearing the scales of justice. The light emanating from Christ, who is actually wearing a garment that recalls that of the doge, descends along the central axis of the composition directly to the doge’s throne on the tribune of the Sala del Maggior Consiglio. The lesson of the picture is clear: the Doge of Venice receives his authority from on high.

This representation of Paradise at the Palazzo Ducale is thought to be the largest painting on canvas in the world. In 1982, it was taken down and put onto a large roller to allow for it to be transported to a state conservation laboratory inside the church of San Gregorio. Once in the lab, conservators Serafino and Ferruccio Volpin dedicated three years to treating the monumental artwork, with the guidance of project directors Francesco Valcanover and Ettore Merkel of the Superintendency of Fine Arts of Venice.

For select projects, conservation dossiers in Italian containing limited textual and photographic documentation may be available for consultation by appointment at the Venice office of Save Venice and the Rosand Library & Study Center. For inquiries, please contact us at venice@savevenice.org.

Jacopo (c. 1518/19–1594) and Domenico Tintoretto (1560-1635) and workshop
Paradise
1588, oil on canvas
765 x 2460 cm
Sala del Maggior Consiglio, Palazzo Ducale

Palazzo Ducale: Homepage

Dalla Costa, Thomas, Robert Echols, and Frederick Ilchman, eds. Tintoretto in Venice: A Guide. Venice: Marsilio, 2018.

Echols, Robert and Frederick Ilchman. Tintoretto: Artist of Renaissance Venice. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2018.

Wolters, Wolfgang. The Doge’s Palace in Venice: A Tour Through Art and History. Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2010.