Conservation funded by Adelina and Bill Ettelson; The Thompson Family Foundation, Inc.; by Terry and Dennis Stanfill in memory of John Julius Norwich; and Lee Essex Doyle and Juan Prieto.

In 1978 Save Venice funded a preliminary conservation of all four Anticollegio allegories with a contribution from Franklin H. Kissner and Harold D. Vursell in memory of Ruth Washburn.

These four remarkable paintings, executed in  1578 as an allegory of concord, were originally intended for the Atrio Quadrato to accompany Tintoretto’s ceiling canvas of Doge Girolamo Priuli. However, they were moved to the Sala dell’Anticollegio in 1716, where their allegorical significance was still legible to those awaiting audience with the Doge or his councilors.

The subjects are explicitly described in a document of November 10, 1578, which records the evaluation of the paintings by Paolo Veronese and Palma il Giovane: on one wall were the “Three Graces” and “Vulcan and the Cyclops at the Forge”; on the other were “the marriage of Ariadne and Bacchus in the presence of Venus” and “Pallas [Athena/Minerva] who embraces Peace and Concord and expels Mars.” Each of the paintings presents a group of figures joined in some common endeavor, and collectively, the document states, they “signify union.” The appropriation of such classical subjects as allegories of the virtues of the state was a major aspect of the development of Venetian pictorial propaganda.

Thus, in the legitimate reading of one seventeenth-century observer, “Vulcan and his Cyclops are beating iron into ‘perfect form,’ which perfection refers to the union of the Venetian Senators in the administration of the Republic.” The arms of course allude to the military might of Venice, to the arms that “serve as ornament to the City” and “strike terror in her enemies.”

One of the Graces accompanied by Mercury leans upon a die “because the Graces correspond to the offices of the Republic,” which change as they are distributed among the worthy patricians. The other two Graces hold myrtle and a rose, flowers sacred to Venus, the goddess of love, and they are floral symbols of perpetual love. Mercury accompanies them “because graces [i.e., gifts] must be granted with reason, as the senate confers honors on those worthy.”

Peace and Abundance celebrate as Mars is expelled by Minerva, who, of course, represents “the wisdom of the Republic in keeping war far from the state, from which is born the happiness of its subjects” and which in turn leads them to love of the doge.

Finally, Ariadne, discovered by Bacchus on the shore, is crowned by Venus with stars, “declaring her free and welcoming her to the number of the celestial images.” This denotes “Venice born along the sea shore, abounding in every earthly good, through heavenly grace, but crowned with the crown of liberty by the divine hand, [Venice] whose domain is inscribed in eternal characters in Heaven.”

The conservation undertaken by the Corest firm in 2018 restored the chromatic brilliance of these paintings, which had been clouded by a thick layer of darkened varnish, altered retouchings from previous restorations, and decades of surface dirt and grime. The large and elaborate gilded wooden frames were also restored upon this occasion.

Two of the scenes, the Forge of Vulcan and the Marriage of Ariadne and Bacchus, were featured in the exhibition Tintoretto: Artist of Renaissance Venice at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

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 Tintoretto
Mercury and the Three Graces
1578, oil on canvas
146 x 155 cm

Conservation funded by Adelina and Bill Ettelson.

Jacopo Tintoretto
Forge of Vulcan
1578, oil on canvas
145 x 156 cm

Conservation funded by The Thompson Family Foundation, Inc.

Jacopo Tintoretto
Minerva Protecting Peace and Abundance from Mars
1578, oil on canvas
148 x 168 cm

Conservation funded by Terry and Dennis Stanfill in memory of John Julius Norwich.

Jacopo Tintoretto
Wedding of Ariadne and Bacchus
1578, oil on canvas
146 x 157 cm

Conservation funded by Lee Essex Doyle and Juan Prieto.

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.