Vittore Carpaccio’s symbolic Lion of Saint Mark represents the essence of Venice, a vast maritime empire flourishing as a center of international trade and culture. The lion’s wings protectively shelter ships entering Venice’s port, and the lion stands firmly with one paw on land and two on the water, a reference to Venice’s dominance on both.
Long believed to have been painted for the treasury office in the Palazzo dei Camerlenghi at the foot of the Rialto Bridge, recent studies have determined that the work was commissioned in 1516 by five patricians who served as the administrators of the Dazio del Vino, the office responsible for levying duties on wine. Today the painting is displayed in Palazzo Ducale.
Thanks to generous funding from Jill and Richard Almeida, conservator Gea Storace is now concentrating her efforts on a careful maintenance and revision treatment to remove surface grime, discolored varnish, and chromatically altered repainting from previous conservation interventions. The painting will be featured in an upcoming exhibition on Vittore Carpaccio at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, scheduled for November 2022, and at Palazzo Ducale in April 2023.
133 East 58th Street, Suite 501
New York, NY 10022
Palazzo Contarini Polignac
Dorsoduro 870 30123 Venice, Italy
The Rosand Library & Study Center is accessible by appointment.
133 East 58th Street, Suite 501
New York, NY 10022
Palazzo Contarini Polignac
Dorsoduro 870 30123 Venice, Italy
The Rosand Library & Study Center is accessible by appointment.