Doge Pietro Grimani Carried into Piazza San Marco after His Election, about 1741, Michele Marieschi, oil on canvas
Galerie G. Sarti, Paris
Transcript
[lively string classical music]
[sound effects approximating an outdoor plaza]
[church bells]Female Narrator: As we look at this painting, we’re absorbed into a crowd of jostling, brightly dressed spectators. They’re gathered in Piazza San Marco to catch a glimpse of the newly-elected Doge as he is carried into the square on a float to be greeted by his subjects. You might expect the ruler of Venice - also referred to as "his Serenity"- to be the focal point of the scene, but in fact, he’s hard to spot - a tiny dab of yellow making his way out of the far background along the white line at right, tossing coins into the crowd. Some bolder members of the populace dive for the gold, while guards try to hold them back from the approaching procession with long red staffs.
[music ends]
Oxford professor Joseph Spence was in the viewing stands for the event on July 1st, 1741. Riveted by the ceremony, he described it in a letter to his mother:
[coins tossed into a crowd]
Male Actor with English Accent: “The whole place (which is very large) was so full of people, that about six foot above the ground it looked all as if it were paved with heads. Several of the Arsenal-men, each with a red baton, kept the whole line clear where the triumphal chariot was to pass. The Doge had a sack of money open by him, and all the way, as he passed along, tossed out handfuls of crowns and half-crowns among the mob: which gave me much more diversion than the sight of his Serenity. From the Church of St. Mark quite down to the bottom of the place, and then all along to the door of the palace, it was all one scramble: and I believe one may say with great veracity that the Venetians are the best scramblers in the whole world.”
[music ends]