Atrium of the Prisons

Matteo Ponzone (1583–after 1663)
The Visit of Doge Giovanni Corner to the Church of San Vio, post 1641
Oil on canvas

The painting, originally created to decorate the sumptuous Sala dei Banchetti (Banquet Hall), depicts Doge Giovanni Corner’s visit to the Church of Saints Vito and Modesto, a ceremony held in remembrance of the foiled conspiracy of Bajamonte Tiepolo in 1310, which led to the establishment of the Council of Ten. This celebration was repeated every June 15 until the fall of the Serenissima Republic.
On this occasion, the doge, accompanied by the Signoria and foreign ambassadors, would proceed toward the church aboard the dogal peatoni (ceremonial boats), while those following the procession crossed the canal on a wooden bridge specially built for the event.
The feast day of Saint Vito (Vio in Venetian dialect) concluded with a banquet held in the Banquet Hall, a fact that explains the painting’s original placement there.