The Doge Returns Thanks in the Sala del Consiglio Maggior
Medium
etching and engraving on laid paper
Dimensions
plate: 46 x 56.6 cm (18 1/8 x 22 5/16 in.) sheet: 47.6 x 68.6 cm (18 3/4 x 27 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Mark J. Millard Architectural Collection
Accession Number
1985.61.454
Art Historical Context
This striking print captures a ceremonial moment in Venice’s grand Sala del Consiglio Maggiore, where the Doge formally expresses gratitude before the assembled Great Council. Created between 1763 and 1766 by Giovanni Battista Brustolon after an original design by Canaletto, the image preserves the luminous architectural splendor and ritual pageantry of the Venetian Republic during its final decades. Canaletto’s celebrated vedute style, known for precise perspectives and atmospheric light, is faithfully translated here into an etching and engraving on laid paper. Brustolon’s meticulous printm...