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Pope Pius VI Descending the Throne to Take Leave of the Doge in the Hall of Saints Giovanni e Paolo, 1782 and Pontifical Ceremony in Saints Giovanni e Paolo, Venice, 1782 (pair)
About the Artwork
From May 15-18, 1782, Pope Pius VI Braschi was in Venice, the only papal visit during the eighteenth century, an event celebrated with great festivities. Francesco Guardi (1712-1793), a native Venetian, was one of the most celebrated scenic painters of the eighteenth century, and specialized in depictions of cityscapes and the pomp and pageantry of Venetian ceremonial life. To celebrate the momentous occasion, the Englishman Peter Edwards commissioned four large scenes of the Pope's visit. The museum's two smaller paintings represent copies of the popular subject, which Guardi copied either for the open market or for other patrons. The Pontifical Ceremony (Te Deum) depicts the musical performance of Te Deum, a prayer of thanksgiving set to music by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), a famous Venetian Baroque composer. Te Deum was a traditional hymn recited in thanks to God for a special blessing, including a papal election or a royal coronation, and was appropriate for the historic papal visit. In the Reception of the Doge and Senate, the Doge, the elected prince of Venice, and Senators of the Venetian Republic process towards the throne, as the pope blesses the multitude of government leaders.
Provenance
Jakob Goldschmidt, 1882-1955 (Berlin, Germany and New York, New York), by 1929, sold through Jacques Seligman & Co. (New York, New York), to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1949. [Galerie Matthiessen, Berlin, 1944]
Exhibition history
Views of Venice. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 11-April 26, 1953). Masterpieces Series. Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH (organizer) (May 10-June 19, 1955). Art: The International Language. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 2-November 4, 1956). In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-April 7, 1958). Eyewitness Views: Making History in Eighteenth-Century Europe. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 25-May 20, 2018).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Francesco Guardi (Italian, 1712–1793)
- Date
- c. 1783
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 69.2 x 86.4 x 10.2 cm (27 1/4 x 34 x 4 in.); Unframed: 51.4 x 68.8 cm (20 1/4 x 27 1/16 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of the Hanna Fund
- Accession no.
- 1949.187
More by Francesco Guardi in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009833
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