Author
Vittore Carpaccio
Venezia 1460 c. - prima del giugno 1526
Venezia 1460 c. - prima del giugno 1526
Title
Return of the Ambassadors
Catalogue
574
Support
Canvas, 297 x 526 cm
Provenance
Acquired following the Napoleonic Suppression, 1812
Hall
Hall XXI
On their return to England, the ambassadors inform the king, who is seated on his throne in an octagonal pavilion, of Ursula’s conditions for her marriage to Ereo. The complex court ceremony is an evocation of the ducal court, where a carver, seated beneath a standard, announced the invited guests while rhythmically beating a heavy sceptre. The scene is set in an imaginary city reminiscent of fifteenth-century Venice, where you can make out the Ponte della Paglia and a palazzo inspired by the architecture of Pietro and Tullio Lombardo.