Giovanni Contarini’s Battle of Verona at the Palazzo Ducale

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Donors

Restored in 1978 with Save Venice general funds.

History

This work depicting the Battle of Verona is one of the most celebrated paintings by Giovanni Contarini, and is one of two works that he was commissioned to produce for the Sala delle Quattro Porte (Room of the Four Doors) at the Doge’s Palace.

In the course of the fifteenth century, the Republic of Venice expanded its mainland reach further west, incorporating cities such as Padua, Verona, and Brescia into its holdings. Opposing that expansion was the duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti. In 1438–39 the Milanese and Venetian forces continued to battle over Veronese territory; Contarini’s dramatic painting depicts the victory of Gattamelata, the leader of the Venetian mercenaries, at Verona. The conflict is conveyed through dynamically twisting figures, dramatic expressions, and a bold use of light and shadow — all of which demonstrate the importance of earlier works by Titian and Tintoretto for Contarini’s own stylistic development.

Giovanni Contarini, The Battle of Verona, Sala delle Quattro Porte, Palazzo Ducale

Conservation

The painting was restored by conservators Serafino and Ferruccio Volpin, with the guidance of project director Giovanna Nepi Scirè 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.