Personification of Venice with a Donor

In the second half of the sixteenth century, as Venice’s actual might was waning, personifications of the city paid tribute by dignitaries and leading citizens proliferated. From its subject and horizontal format, this drawing probably prepared part of the decoration of a meeting hall. Integrating the solid construction of Veronese’s style with the rhythmic insistence of Tintoretto’s, Vicentino specialized in such decoration as well as altarpieces across the Veneto. His very regular and refined drawings in pen owe also to the example of Federico Zuccaro.