Pasquale Cicogna Learns of his Election as Doge

ca. 1586 – oil on canvas, cm 369 x 262

Procuratore Pasquale Cicogna is also the protagonist of this second telero that shows him kneeling before the altar of the church of the Crociferi the moment he learns that he has been elected as doge of Venice.

This painting documents the original structure of the main chapel before it was demolished. In the picture we even see an accurate reproduction of part of the Apostle featured at the bottom left of Jacopo Tintoretto’s Assumption of the Virgin (now on the transept altar in the church of Santa Maria Assunta, known as “dei Gesuiti”).

This second painting confirms Palma’s capacity to relinquish the mannered figuration of the final decades of the sixteenth century, fully expressing his natural inclination towards a simple narration of everyday reality combined with a secure handling of portraiture.