Giovanni Battista Brustolon

The Venetian Doge’s most important ceremonial act of the year was the performance of the marriage of Venice to the sea on Ascension Day, called La Festa della Sensa. The Doge rode into the Great Lagoon in his magnificent gilded boat called the bucintoro, seen here with its multiple oars propelling it at right with the lion of St. Mark on the bow. From his throne in the covered apartment in the rear, the Doge threw out a symbolic ring, saying, “We wed thee, O Sea, in token of our eternal power and dominion.” Boats crowd the lagoon carrying passengers with fans and parasols, some masked, while masses of spectators look out from the Palazzo Ducale. Canaletto carefully depicted the event in front of the city’s most important architectural symbols of political and religious power: the clock tower, spires of St. Mark’s Basilica, campanile, and twin pillars of justice.