Hall of the Collegio
Andrea Palladio and Giovanni Antonio Rusconi (architecture); Paolo Veronese and Jacopo Tintoretto (paintings) (Veronese 1528 to 1588; Tintoretto 1518 to 1594) · 1575 to 1581
This is the room where the Republic met the world. The Collegio was the inner cabinet of the state, the Doge with his six councillors and the heads of the main magistracies, and here they received ambassadors, read dispatches and prepared the business of the Senate. The wooden tribune at the far end, with its carved benches, is where they sat. Everything in the room, from the gilded ceiling to the paintings on the walls, was meant to impress a visiting envoy with the wisdom, wealth and good order of Venice before a word was spoken.
The ceiling is by Veronese and is one of the finest in the palace. In the centre, above the tribune, Venice sits enthroned between Justice and Peace; around it are allegories of the virtues, painted in the clear, silvery light that Veronese made his own. Look for the figure of Faith on the far side, and for the panel of Mars and Neptune, the two powers of the state on land and sea. On the wall above the throne, Veronese painted Doge Sebastiano Venier giving thanks for the victory of Lepanto in 1571, with the naval battle sketched in the background. The other walls carry devotional paintings by Tintoretto in which Doges kneel before the Virgin and the saints.
The room was rebuilt after the fire of 1574 to a design associated with Palladio, and the carpentry was finished by 1577. The refined proportions and the balance of gold, walnut and painting make it perhaps the most harmonious interior in the building. A memorable detail is the clock above the tribune, which shows not only the hours but also the signs of the zodiac, a reminder that state business here was measured against the calendar of the heavens.
Did You Know? The victory of Lepanto painted above the throne was won by Sebastiano Venier as admiral six years before he became Doge.
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