Canaletto, Venice: The Basin of San Marco on Ascension Day

Looking across the basin of San Marco, this vast view captures the scale and splendour of a ceremony taking place along the waterfront. In the foreground, boats carrying animated figures in colourful outfits have been carefully arranged to lead the eye into the painting towards the impressive state barge or Bucintoro, with its red roof and golden carved decoration. In the bottom left corner, a man holding a yellow parasol gives his passengers a tour of the lagoon and gestures towards the activity on the quayside.

The annual ceremony of the Wedding of the Sea is about to take place. The upper deck of the Bucintoro is crowded with figures. A procession of state dignitaries and foreign ambassadors makes its way towards the state barge, past the Doge’s Palace with its pink and white facade; the golden umbrella just visible in the crowd belongs to the doge (the head of the Venetian state). During the ceremony the Bucintoro was rowed out onto the lagoon, where the doge would cast a blessed ring into the water to symbolise the ritual marriage of Venice and the sea. This long-standing tradition had originated as a celebration of Venetian naval domination over the Adriatic Sea and became the grandest event in the Festa della Sensa, a festival marking the Ascension of Christ.

Traditional gondolas and golden parade craft surround the Bucintoro. Their passengers sit or stand in the open to view the spectacle, or else shelter from the sun under striped canopies. Some wear a white mask and black cloak, a costume traditionally worn during the annual Carnival of Venice. Canaletto conjured up this eager audience with great precision. The figures in the tightly packed vessels merge with distant crowds made up of careful dots of paint; look closer and you can see more spectators along the balconies of the Doge’s Palace and at the top of the elegant campanile (bell tower) beyond. These details help to convey the sense of anticipation and excitement – we can imagine the hum of voices, the splashing of oars and the clunking of boats as they rest against each other.

This public celebration took place in front of the Doge’s Palace and the surrounding buildings of San Marco, one of the city’s most famous and recognisable areas. Passing through the web of boat masts, you can see the entrance of the Grand Canal and, on the far left, the spectacular domed church of S. Maria della Salute. A hazy light illuminates the facades of the buildings, picking out varying shades and subtle textures, and casts beautiful, soft reflections on the water.

This picture, painted in around 1740, was intended to be hung alongside Canaletto’s A Regatta on the Grand Canal, an equally elaborate scene of Venetian pomp and festivity.