Highlight paintings at Buckingham Palace
Learn more about the paintings on display at Buckingham Palace this summer
The Bacino di San Marco on Ascension Day
c.1733-4RCIN 404417
This painting is one of Canaletto's twelve views of the Grand Canal. The series was originally in the collection of Consul Joseph Smith, the greatest art collector in Venice at the time. In 1762 the young monarch George III purchased virtually the entire collection of Consul Smith. Because of this acquisition, the Royal Collection contains the largest collection of works by Canaletto.
This painting depicts the return of the Bucintoro, the ceremonial vessel used once a year for the Venetian Wedding of the Sea ceremony. On Ascension Day, the Bucintoro was rowed in procession out of the lagoon into the Adriatic, where the Doge cast a ring blessed by the Patriarch into the waters, symbolising the marriage of Venice to the sea. The Bucintoro depicted here was to be the last. After the fall of Venice to Napoleon's army in 1797, the upper part of the Bucintoro was burnt to recover the gold. In 1824 it was completely broken up in its birthplace, the Arsenale.